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First published online November 17, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 4732-4746 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02559
Biomimetic evolutionary analysis: testing the adaptive value of vertebrate tail stiffness in autonomous swimming robots
1 Department of Biology, Program in Cognitive Science, and the
Interdisciplinary Robotics Research Laboratory, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie,
NY 12604, USA
2 Skeletal Biology, Shriners Hospital for Children, Tampa, FL 33612,
USA
3 Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
4 Speech and Hearing Research, VA Medical Center and East Bay Institute for
Research and Education, Martinez, CA 94553, USA
5 Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032,
USA
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: jolong{at}vassar.edu)
Accepted 21 September 2006
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Key words: vertebrae, axial skeleton, notochord, stiffness, swimming, navigation, robots, evolution
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), construct models that relate morphology, performance, and
fitness (Arnold, 2003), and
understand the separate impact of selection, chance and history
(Travisano et al., 1995).
Without living taxa, however, it is at best difficult to determine plausible
mechanical functions from morphology alone
(Alexander, 2003;
Hutchinson and Gatesy, 2006;
Lauder, 1995), let alone the
adaptive value of a trait (Amundson and
Lauder, 1994). Seeking a bridge between the morphology and fitness
of extinct taxa, biologists have combined biomimetics and phylogenetics
(Bels et al., 2003;
Kingsolver and Koehl, 1985),
building biologically inspired physical or computer simulations to determine
plausible performance changes associated with changes in morphology
(Long, Jr et al., 2006a) or
behavior (Long, Jr et al.,
2006b). Inference from performance to fitness requires that the
investigator also reconstruct a selection environment, an ecological situation
in which to judge adaptive value (Brandon,
1990). Thus the goal is to understand how individuals and their
environments might have plausibly interacted to produce the derived state from
the ancestral. We call this approach biomimetic evolutionary analysis
(BEA).
Inspired by evolutionary robotics
(Nolfi and Floreano, 2000), we
extend traditional BEA by adding fundamental evolutionary features: (1)
genetics: quantitative trait loci (QTL) coding biomimetic morphologies, (2)
mutation and genetic drift: random processes creating variable offspring, (3)
autonomous individuals: mobile robots competing against each other, (4)
selection environment: a behavior-based environment and criteria judging the
relative fitness of individuals, and (5) evolution per se: the
population changing over generational time by selection, drift and mutation
(Gillespie, 2004). Central to
the explanatory power of this evolutionary approach are the random processes
of drift and mutation. Without randomness, decisions about how to vary the
phenotypes under selection are made by the investigator, leaving open the
opportunity for unintentional bias to canalize evolutionary trajectories.
The morphology we analyze is the vertebrate axial skeleton, which has
undergone at least four episodes of convergent evolution from the ancestral
state of a continuous notochord to the derived state of a jointed vertebral
column (Gardiner, 1983;
Koob and Long, Jr, 2000). The
classical interpretation (Goodrich,
1930) is that bony or calcified vertebral elements evolved to
strengthen and stiffen the axis as an adaptation for more powerful swimming
(Laerm, 1976;
Laerm, 1979;
Rockwell et al., 1938). The
presence of vertebral centra, the elements that surround and constrict the
notochord, is correlated with increased fast-start performance in
osteichthyans (Lauder, 1980)
and increased undulatory swimming speed in actinopterygians
(Webb, 1982;
Weihs and Webb, 1983).
Conversely, species that possess an adult notochord, e.g. Atlantic hagfish
Myxine glutinosa, white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus,
and shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynhcus platorynchus, swim voluntarily
at very slow speeds, less than one body-length per second in the laboratory
(Long, Jr et al., 2002;
Long, Jr, 1995;
Adams et al., 1997).
Correlations, however, hide the complex relationship between morphology and
performance: sturgeon, even though they possess a notochord, can swim fast
enough to breach (Sulak et al.,
2002), and no single morphology alone determines burst swimming
performance (Brainerd and Patek,
1998; Ghalambor et al.,
2003).
To identify influential vertebral morphologies and relate them to a
specific mechanical function, we focus on mechanical properties. For example,
the addition of rigid artificial vertebrae to a hagfish's notochord increases
its bending modulus, E (in Pa)
(Long, Jr et al., 2004a).
E combines with the second moment of area, I (in
m4), a cross-sectional shape factor, and length, L (in m)
of a cantilevered beam (Summers and Long,
Jr, 2006) to produce spring stiffness, k (in N
m-1):
 | (1) |
Spring stiffness has been linked to swimming performance
(Pabst, 1996). Experimental
alterations to the body's k in swimming gar
(Long, Jr et al., 1996),
swimming whole-body preparations (Long, Jr
et al., 1994) and swimming physical models
(McHenry et al., 1995) has
provided indirect evidence that k increases swimming speed by
increasing tailbeat frequency, tailbeat amplitude or propulsive wavelength,
respectively. Moreover, the axial skeleton provides 25% of the body's spring
stiffness in pumpkinseed sunfish Lepomis gibbosus, and 70% in
Atlantic hagfish Myxine glutinosa
(Summers and Long, Jr, 2006).
These results support the classical hypothesis: vertebrae have an adaptive
function in swimming, stiffening the axial skeleton, increasing swimming speed
and, hence, enhancing swimming performance.
To test this adaptation hypothesis using BEA, we first created biomimetic
notochords constructed of cross-linked gelatin, based on a process used to
make artificial tendons (Koob and
Hernandez, 2003). Varying among notochords are two QTLs,
E and tail length L, which, given constant I,
determine k (Eqn 1). We placed these phenotypically variable
biomimetic notochords into propulsive tails and attached those constructs to
three swimming robots. The robots, called `Tadros', were modeled after the
one-eyed, free-swimming tadpole larvae of ascidians (Urochordata, Phylum
Chordata), which to our knowledge is the chordate swimmer with the simplest
sensorimotor system (McHenry and Strother,
2003). Ascidian tadpole larvae navigate in three dimensions using
helical klinotaxis, an algorithm that also works in two dimensions for
surface-swimming robots (Long, Jr et al.,
2003; Long, Jr et al.,
2004b). Information from ascidians informs the reconstruction of
the common ancestor of the urochordate-vertebrate clade, recently posited as a
monophyletic taxon based on phylogenomic evidence
(Delsuc et al., 2006). To
assess the relative performance of the Tadros, we created a selection
environment in which their performance was judged on their ability to forage:
to swim quickly, smoothly and accurately to a food source and then to hold
station in close proximity. In proportion to their fitness, the tails were
allowed to reproduce in simulation, with mutation randomly varying the QTL for
E and L, gametogenesis assorting the chromosomes, and
mating, with its accompanying genetic drift, producing new offspring tails.
Lack of a significant relation between k and NP would
refute, in this system, the classical hypothesis.
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To adjust the E values, hydrogels were cross-linked using various
% concentrations of glutaraldehyde (25% EM grade; Polysciences, Warrington,
PA, USA). The glutaraldehyde was diluted in phosphate buffer solution (0.1 mol
l-1 NaH2PO4, 0.15 mol l-1 NaCl, pH
7.0). Hydrogels bathed in the solution were placed on a shaker bed, left to
cross-link for about 17 h, and then rinsed five times in distilled water to
remove any remaining unreacted glutaraldehyde. Hydrogels were stored
aseptically in an aqueous solution of 20% ethanol. To determine the
relationship between concentration and E, we created a preliminary
range of hydrogels crossed-linked at various glutaraldehyde concentrations.
The resulting hydrogels were bent at 1 Hz in three-point bending (Mini Bionix
858 with 10 N load cell; MTS Systems, Eden Prairie, MN, USA), resulting in the
following equation:
 | (2) |
where E is in units of MPa.
After producing ten generations of biomimetic notochords using the formula
(Eqn 2) for evolutionary trials, we validated the hydrogels' targeted
E values in a custom-built cantilevered bending machine
(Long, Jr et al., 2006a) that
mimicked the cantilevered bending of the hydrogel mounted in the robots during
swimming. We bent biomimetic notochords at a frequency of 1.76 Hz, near the
operating tailbeat frequency of 1.70 Hz during swimming
(Table 1), at flexions of 0.287
rad, near the operating tail flexion of 0.267 (see
Table 3). All 30 evolved tails
were tested in random order; two tails were randomly chosen and were retested
three times throughout the procedure to measure repeatability, one minus the
ratio of the measurements' standard deviation (s.d.) and mean value. We had an
average repeatability of 93% and the 30 E values did not differ
significantly (two-tailed paired t-test, P=0.137) from the
targeted E values from Eqn 2. These were the E values we
used.
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The biomimetic notochords were used as the axial skeleton in the propulsive tail (Fig. 2). The ends of the notochords were gripped with heat-shrink tubing that was, in turn, glued on one end to an insert screwed into the driveshaft and on the other end to a rigid and flat hemi-circular tail of acrylic (Fig. 2). To prevent the tail from sagging or lifting in the vertical plane, a vertical septum was created from two conjoined sheets of Press and SealTM wrap (Glad, Oakland, CA, USA); the septum cradled the notochord and secured the caudal fin to the driveshaft. While the depth of the driveshaft side of the vertical septum was held constant, the axial length of the vertical septum co-varied with the length of the tail. Finally, in lateral bending tests, we were unable to detect the presence of the vertical septum, since its contribution to stiffness was within the margin of repeatability (see above).
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;
Long, Jr et al., 2004b). For
surface swimming, we call this behavior two-dimensional, cycloptic helical
klinotaxis (2D cHK). We modified the previous 2D cHK Tadro design by replacing
the analog circuit implementation of the neural algorithm with a digital
microcontroller (MIT HandyBoard, Newton Labs, Renton, WA, USA). The
microcontroller allows us to use a single servomotor (MPI MX-400, Maxx
Products, Lake Zurich, IL, USA) to both flap and turn the tail
(Fig. 2). Controlled by
software (Interactive C, v. 4; Newton Labs; working code available from J.H.L.
upon request), the servomotor flapped the tail ±30° at a nearly
constant cycle frequency of 1.7 Hz producing lateral tail-tip amplitudes that
operated the tail at Froude numbers of 0.226
(Table 1), within the range
seen in fish and close to but not within the lower limit considered optimal
for thrust production (Terada and
Yamamoto, 2004; Triantafyllou
et al., 1993). The Tadros operate at Reynolds numbers near 11 730
(Table 1). Voltage across the
single cadmium sulphide (CdS) photoresistor `eye'
(Fig. 2) varied inversely with
light intensity and was converted to a tail offset that varied continuously
and independently from the sinusoidal flapping.
Competition experiments with forage navigation
In each generation, we tested three tails, each bearing a biomimetic
notochord with a different value of spring stiffness, k. We limited
the population size to three so that we could compete three Tadros
simultaneously, allowing their physical interactions to be part of the
selection environment (Fig.
3A). While we built three Tadros of identical specifications and
parts, we did not assume that they would perform identically. To control for
differences among the Tadros, independent of those caused by the different
tails, we ran 12 competition experiments in each generation, with all six
possible combinations of tails and robots replicated twice.
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For our behavioral metric, we recognized the coordination required between
functional systems to enact behavior (Rice
and Westneat, 2005). The navigational task was to move towards the
light source, find it quickly, and hold station in a tight orbit around that
source. This involves possible trade-offs: swim quickly to get to the target
but then maneuver to stay as close to the target as possible. An idealized
agent would swim quickly to the source and then stop, moving only as needed to
stay on the target. For our simple swimmers, however, they are behaviorally
constrained because they are constantly swimming; the only motor output
controlled by the brain is turning direction. Since forage navigation involves
detection, propulsion, maneuvering, and station-holding, we created
`navigational prowess,' NP, a dimensionless number:
 | (3) |
where U (m s-1) was the average forward speed of
propulsion, taken as the finite difference in midpoint position of the Tadro's
hull along its trajectory over each 1 s time increment (0.01 m s-1
resolution). R (m) was the orbital radius, the average distance of
the Tadro from the light target (Fig.
3) and a measure of station-holding ability. t (s) was
the time to the food source, which was defined as within 0.5 m of the spot of
highest intensity (Fig. 3);
Tadros that failed to get this close received the maximum time of 120 s.
W (rad s-2) was the yaw wobble of the Tadro, defined as
the s.d. of the Tadro's angular acceleration in yaw (rad s-2), as
determined by finite differences of the angular velocity (rad s-1),
which was also determined from finite differences of the heading (rad) between
frames. W measures both recoil caused by periodic tail beats and
accelerations caused by turning maneuvers
(Fig. 5), and was developed as
a proxy of path tortuosity, a key parameter in animal orientation and
searching that is inversely related to the efficiency of the orientation
mechanism (Benhamou, 2004).
Taken together in NP, these kinematic variables define more effective
forage navigation, which we defined as higher values of NP. Higher
values of NP can be generated in a variety of ways given the number
of variables. Thus the complexity of NP as a behavioral metric
permits the evolution of different phenotypes that produce equivalent
performance.
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Individual fitness, 
i, is the chance of survival of the
genotype (Ridley, 1993), a
number between 0 and 1. The `individual' here, denoted by the subscript
i, was one of three tails each generation. The individual relative
fitness, ij, relative to that of other individuals in the
particular generation, where generation was indicated by the subscript
j, was computed, following 12 experimental runs per generation, as
follows:
 | (4) |
where the jmax and jmin terms were the maximum and minimum values, respectively, for all individuals performing in that generation, j. Without a priori biological knowledge about the relative importance of each, we weighted the kinematic phenotypes equally.
Biomechanical analysis
In biomechanical analyses, we sought more detail about the motion of the
tails during swimming. Each Tadro was filmed separately from below as they
swam straight in a clear PlexiglasTM tank (JVC digital video; 30 Hz
temporal resolution; 0.25 cm spatial resolution). Two points on the hull were
tracked (bow and stern) in addition to three points on the notochord, one on
either end and one in the middle. All five points were manually digitized as
above every 1/30 s for three tailbeat cycles. Each of the 30 tails was tested
three times, once on each of the three Tadros, for a total sample size of
90.
In addition to calculating swimming speed U and wobble W,
as above, we used the positional data on the notochord to calculate tailbeat
frequency f (Hz), tail flexion 
(rad), lateral amplitude of the
tail tip a (m), phase of lateral tail displacement 
(% cycle),
and Froude number 
(non-dimensional). Tailbeat frequency f was
measured as the inverse of the average period (s) of the beating tail over
three tailbeats (resolution of 30 Hz). Tail flexion was measured as the
angular deviation of the three points on the tail from a straight line
(resolution of 0.009 rad). Lateral amplitude of the tail tip a was
measured as half of the average maximal difference between positions of the
tail (resolution of 0.001 m). Phase of lateral tail displacement was measured
as the difference in time between the attainment of maximal lateral position
of the middle and distal points on the tail (resolution of 5 % of cycle).
Froude number was calculated as the ratio of the product of f
and a to U.
Genetic algorithm
Genetic algorithms were used to simulate the interaction of mutation,
genetic drift, mating and selection in artificial evolution
(Nolfi and Floreano, 2000).
Genotype frequencies after selection,
, were computed as follows:
 | (5) |
where pij was the genotype frequency prior to
selection, which, before we applied selection, was equal for all three
genotypes with pij=0.333. After selection, the frequencies
were as follows:
 | (6) |
Since the sum of the all the genotype frequencies no longer equaled one, we
calculated the normalized genotype frequency, pij, which
was used to determine the number of gametes that each parent contributes to
the gene pool:
 | (6) |
where 
was the mean relative fitness (Ridley,
1993) of the population at generation j:
 | (8) |
Gametogenesis and mating
Prior to mating, each parent genotype underwent simulated gametogenesis
via meiosis with mutation but no recombination. For each QTL, we
assumed simple additive genetic variance without dominance or epistasis. The
diploid adult genotype (E1/E2,
L3/L4)ij consisted of two QTLs, E
and L (where the trait denotation is a capital letter italicized and
the chromosome letter is not) with a large but unspecified finite number of
loci, with loci for each trait located on separate chromosomes as indexed by
the subscripts. Given an isomorphic relation between genotype and phenotype
(narrow-sense heritability of one), we represented genotype quantitatively
using the continuous values for the adult phenotype. For simplicity, we
partitioned the quantitative phenotype equally between the two sister
chromosomes.
During meiosis, we mutated each of the four chromosomes, E1,
E2, L3, L4, of each individual. The magnitude
and sign of mutational change was determined by randomly selecting a value
from a Poisson distribution, where the center of the distribution was zero
change and the range was scaled to encompass ±25% of the trait's median
value. (For E, range and median were 0.1 to 1.4 MPa and 0.65 MPa,
respectively; for L, range and median were 20 to 120 mm and 70 mm,
respectively.) Mutation created four new chromosomes for each individual,
E1*, E2*,
L3*, L4*, and 12 new chromosomes
for the population. By segregation and independent assortment, each of the
three individuals creates, four gamete types with the following haploid
genotypes:
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For mating, six gametes were chosen for the gene pool. Each individual
contributed to the pool on the basis of their post-selection normalized
genotype frequency, 
(Eqn 7),
which determined their number of gametes, Nij:
 | (9) |
Thus, for an individual, Nij gametes were chosen randomly from the four possible types. The combined gene pool of six gametes was then randomly combined in pairs to create the new generation of three diploid individuals.
Because of the small population size of three, selection results in differential reproduction, and hence evolution by selection, only if the differences among individual fitnesses results in a value of p'' greater than 0.5 for one individual. When all values of p'' are below 0.5, each individual contributes two gametes and evolution by selection is therefore not present. This is the distinction we use with the phrases `with selection' and `without selection', respectively. Please note that always present is evolution by chance, which includes mutation and drift.
Statistical design
To normalize the response variables from the competition trials, a variety
of transforms were run, and the best, as judged by the linearity of
probability plots, were used (Zar,
1996). E was normally distributed and untransformed;
L and k were log10-transformed. R, U, W
and NP were arcsine-square-root transformed, with R first
divided by 10; t was inverse transformed. For the biomechanical
analysis, data were log10-transformed. All statistics were
performed using JMP (ver. 5.0, SAS Institute).
The competition trials were analyzed in four ways. First, to determine if
evolution had occurred, we conducted a nested ANCOVA with generation as the
main effect, Tadro as the covariate, and tail nested within generation
(N=360; for each of 10 generations, three tails tested in 12 trials).
This model was used on the response variables, R, t, U, W and
NP, with planned a priori contrasts (
=0.05) to
examine generation-to-generation changes in the population mean. Second, to
address the same question for the morphological phenotypes, E, L and
the mechanical behavior, k, we simplified the model to a one-way
ANOVA, with generation as the effect (N=30), which included planned
a priori contrasts (=0.05) to examine generation-to-generation
changes in the population mean. Third, to determine if evolutionary changes in
the population mean differed when the population was under selection and when
it was not, we created new response variables, for example 
E,
that took the difference in the population mean from generation j to
j+1. Since there are nine intergenerational intervals, this yielded a
sample size for each new response variable of nine. We ran a one-way ANOVA
with selection (absent, present) as the effect. Fourth, to examine the
correlation structure between k and NP, as mediated by the
kinematic variables, R, t, U and W, we ran a one-way MANOVA
(N=30), which yielded partial correlation coefficients and univariate
regressions of the responses onto k. Using those regressions, we
generated predicted values of R, t, U and W and compared
those to the observed; residuals were calculated as the difference between
observed and predicted values. The residuals of R, t, U and
W were used as a set of possible predictor variables for the
residuals of NP, and stepwise linear regressions (forward, backward,
mixed models) were run.
The biomechanical analysis of k and swimming kinematics (a, f,
U, W, , and, recorded in straight-swimming trials)
was conducted using linear regression (N=30, from the mean of three
trials for each of 30 tails).
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with a coefficient of determination of 0.375 (N=30; P<0.001). Because of this covariation, calculations of k for each tail used an actual I and not an I assumed from the fabrication process. Second, even though the three Tadros were designed to be identical, they performed differently, as revealed by ANCOVA from the competition experiments. Treated as the covariate, the Tadro effect was highly significant (P<0.001) for R, U and W. This result justified our experimental design, where each tail was tested 12 times per generation, four times on each of the three Tadros.
The Tadros showed variation in navigational behavior that was sometimes, but not always, correlated with phenotypic variation in k (Fig. 3). Over ten generations, the population mean of NP and k evolved, changing significantly in five and six generational intervals, respectively (Fig. 6). Evolution occurred in all other phenotypes as well. With every phenotype, the direction of evolution varied. Moreover, evolution of at least three of the eight phenotypes occurred in every inter-generational time step (Fig. 6).
In the presence of selection in generations 1, 5, 6 and 9, unidirectional evolution of the population mean, relative to that when selection is absent, occurred in five of the eight phenotypes (Fig. 7). The morphological phenotypes, E and L, showed no significant unidirectional trend; likewise for k, although the non-significant trend was for k to increase in the presence of selection. The behavioral phenotype NP increased in the presence of selection; this was not surprising, since NP is a composite of the kinematic phenotypes R, t, U and W, all of which changed unidirectionally in the presence of selection (Fig. 7). Note that the directions of change differ: R and t increased while U and W decreased in the presence of selection. Thus the increases in W correlated with the increases in U counteract (Eqn 3).
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From the biomechanical trials alone, k predicted only a
(Fig. 9A), which, in turn,
significantly predicted U (Fig.
9B). All other biomechanical response variables
(f,, and ) are not predicted by k in
linear regression.
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). When we
selected for improved navigational prowess, NP, stiffness of the
axial skeleton, k, determined by the biomimetic notochord's
genetically based traits bending modulus, E and length, L
(Eqn 1), increased as an adaptive response. However, k was neither
the only trait that determined NP nor did it always evolve in
synchrony with NP. Thus, even though k has both a mechanical
and adaptive relation to NP, selection for NP did not in all
cases evolve k. Below we discuss the complexities of this asymmetric
relation by examining first mechanical and then adaptive function of the axial
skeleton of biomimetic robots during forage navigation.
A biomechanical approach: mechanical function
In terms of mechanical function, our results support Blight's
hybrid-oscillator theory (Blight,
1977): stiffness of body and tail was the key parameter in
controlling thrust production and, hence, swimming speed, U. When we
swam our tadpole robots, `Tadros', with a constant tailbeat frequency in a
straight line, k predicted 74% of the variation in U. The
causal connection between k and U was explained by only one
other of the five kinematic variables measured
(Table 3), lateral tailbeat
amplitude, a (Fig. 9).
Hence k in this system modulated thrust by increasing a.
This is not, however, the first study to demonstrate a causal relation
between k, kinematics and U. Inspired by the `halfmyotome'
preparation (Johnsrude and Webb, 1981), Long, Jr et al.
(Long, Jr et al., 1994) swam
whole-body preparations of pumpkinseed sunfish at constant tailbeat frequency,
f, finding that reduced k also reduced a and
U. McHenry et al. (McHenry et
al., 1995) swam flexible casts of pumpkinseed sunfish,
demonstrating that increased k increased the speed of the body's
flexural wave of bending. In live longnose gar, reductions of the body's
k reduced the f at which animals chose to swim
(Long, Jr et al., 1996).
These results speak to the evolution of vertebrates insofar as they
demonstrate that increases in the k of the axial skeleton (this
study) and the body increase thrust production and hence U. Given
that the classical adaptation hypothesis links the evolution of vertebrae with
increased k (Webb,
1982; Weihs and Webb,
1983), we also need to know if and how vertebrae control
k of the body. In preliminary experiments, in which we placed
artificial vertebral ring centra onto the excised notochord of Atlantic
hagfish, the presence of vertebral centra dramatically increased k of
the axial skeleton by reducing the amount of connective tissue available to
undergo strain during bending (Long, Jr et
al., 2004a). This result is consistent with correlations between
number of vertebrae and minimal propulsive wavelength during steady swimming
(Long, Jr and Nipper, 1996)
and body curvature during fast starts
(Brainerd and Patek,
1998).
One remaining question for the biomechanist is how much of the body's
k is provided by the axial skeleton? The axial skeleton provides 75%
of the body's passive (without muscle contraction) flexural stiffness in
hagfish and 25% in sunfish (Summers and
Long, Jr, 2006). Those percentages may fall if we consider
situations in which the muscle might be used to actively increase the body's
flexural stiffness (Long, Jr and Nipper,
1996; Long, Jr,
1998).
From biomechanics alone, we see evidence to support the classical
hypothesis that vertebrae stiffen the body and that increased body k
increases thrust production and steady swimming speed. This formulation,
however, avoids a central evolutionary question: under what ecological and
selective conditions might vertebrae evolve? Unlikely is a simple relation
between mechanical function (k controlling U) and adaptive
function (increased U improves every behavior), given the
complexities and interactions of fundamental behaviors such as navigation
(Dittman and Quinn, 1996),
predator evasion (Walker et al.,
2005), feeding (Rice and
Westneat, 2005) and foraging
(Martini et al., 1997).
An evolutionary approach: adaptive function
We examined the adaptive value of k in a selection environment in
which robots were rewarded for improvement in forage navigation relative to
other individuals in the same population. Our fitness function (Eqn 4) gave
equal weight to the four variables: orbital radius R, time to target
t, U and robot wobble W, which determine the performance
metric, NP (Eqn 3). Because of the biomechanical connection between
k and U (see above), we designed NP to trade-off
U against other important aspects of foraging, R, t and
W, for which we had no a priori knowledge of how they
related to k. We sought to create a selective environment that
allowed for the emergence of different and equally successful behavioral
strategies. On one end of the spectrum, a `maneuver specialist' may evolve if
the product of R, t and W decreased while U held
constant; selection would act on the kinematic phenotypes related to
maneuvering alone. On the other end of the spectrum, a `speed specialist' may
evolve if U increased while the product of R, t and
W remained constant; selection would act on the speed phenotype
alone.
While specialist or generalist behavioral strategies might be rewarded by selection, depending on available phenotypic variance, evolution requires that selected phenotypes are heritable. In this system, therefore, the only behavioral strategies that may evolve are those linked to k, E and/or L. We found evidence for heritability of the four kinematic phenotypes that determine NP: R, t, U and W (Eqn 3). Both U and W are directly correlated with k (Fig. 8), while R and t are indirectly correlated with k through their correlation with U (Table 4; for summary, see Fig. 13).
From a `top-down' view starting with behavior, selection for increased NP evolved a single generalist behavior in which U and W increased while R and t decreased (Figs 6, 7). It is interesting to note that NP increases in spite of the fact that increasing W removes a portion of the gains afforded by the productive changes in U, R and t. This maladaptive effect of W, seen in the positive correlation between U and W seen during the competition experiments (Table 4), arises from maneuvering, since W was unrelated to k during the propulsion-only biomechanical tests (Fig. 8). While we did not test directly for the mechanical relation between U and W during competition, we suspect that turning maneuvers were exaggerated when the robot was swimming at higher U because the propulsive tail was also functioning as the turning rudder.
From a `bottom-up' view starting with k, the single generalist strategy just described emerges from the summation over generational time of two different behaviors, a `k-direct' and a `k-indirect' mode. Recall that over all four bouts of selection, k is statistically invariant while NP increases (Fig. 7). A step-by-step view reveals that k does change under selection, two times increasing and two times decreasing while NP increases each time (Fig. 12). One explanation is that the relation between k and NP alternated between a k-direct (k increasing) and a k-indirect (k decreasing) mode. Evidence for the k-direct mode comes from NP values generated using k to predict R, t, U and W via regressions (Fig. 11A). In this k-direct mode, k predicts 40% of the variance in NP and operates directly through unequal, countervailing changes in U and W (Table 4; Fig. 8). Evidence for the k-indirect mode comes from the remaining 60% of the variance in NP unexplained by k (Fig. 11). When this variance was measured as the NP residuals, it was significantly correlated with the residuals of R and U regressed onto k (Fig. 11B). Hence R and U are the causal variables in the k-indirect mode, working together, by virtue of their inverse and direct proportionality to NP, respectively (Fig. 11B), to increase NP.
Vertebrates and vertebrae
Regarding the origin of vertebrae, as represented here by k, we
examined only one of many plausible adaptation scenarios. We found evidence
that vertebrae may function as an adaptation for improved navigational
prowess, NP, with the stiffness they give to the axial skeleton
increasing U and W directly or R and U
indirectly (see previous section). While U figures in both adaptation
scenarios, it is inaccurate to say that vertebrae are an adaptation for
increased U. By focusing on a single aspect of behavior, like
U, we miss the point that adaptation always occurs in a particular
environment where selection acts upon behavior directly, with the result that
many aspects of that behavior (such as R, t, U and W in this
case) evolve simultaneously in integrated, independent and/or maladaptive
ways.
The search for plausible adaptation scenarios for vertebrae is limited only
by the imagination and resources of the investigator. We recognize that many
plausible scenarios exist, and that they await testing. For example,
adaptation for predation is suggested by phylogenetic reconstruction of extant
taxa correlating the origin of jaws and vertebral centra
(Koob and Long, Jr, 2000).
Adaptation for benthic, low-speed or fin-based life histories are suggested by
the phylogenetic distribution of the adult notochord, with this ancestral
state retained or secondarily reacquired in taxa such as jawless hagfish,
six-gilled sharks, sturgeon, lungfish and coelocanths
(Janvier, 1996). Even in
closely related fish taxa, possible adaptation scenarios are numerous, with
fish size, life history, acceleration and environment all correlated with
changes in number of vertebrae within a family
(Brainerd and Patek, 1998;
McDowall, 2003). The same can
be said of divergent taxa (Long, Jr and
Nipper, 1996), and even the terrestrial undulatory locomotors,
snakes (for a review, see Shine,
2000). Finally, selection for and pleiotropy among immune,
reproductive and nervous systems may create regulatory gene networks that
influence the number and morphology of vertebrae
(Anand et al., 2003;
Galis, 1999;
Narita and Kuratani,
2005).
Caveats
When attempting to reconstruct the locomotor dynamics of fossil species,
the multitude of unknown parameter values guarantees a wide range of plausible
results (Hutchinson and Gatesy,
2006). Add to this the uncertainty introduced by simplifications
required to model the complex interactions of genetics, phenotypes, and
selection related to swimming in living vertebrates
(Aubret et al., 2005;
Blake, 2004;
Ghalambor et al., 2003;
Walker et al., 2005). At best,
then, attempts to determine the adaptive value of any trait in extinct taxa
can yield only what have been called `how-possibly' adaptation explanations
(Brandon, 1990). While poor
resolution blurs its hindsight, BEA's simulated evolution, driven by selection
and chance, offers the opportunity for unexpected results that force
consideration and ranking of viable, alternative pathways.
For some, a more primary concern is the use of robots as model simulations
of biology (see Webb, 2001 and
the multiple critiques appended thereto). In our case, it is easy to show how
the Tadros, their biomimetic tails, and the selection environment are
unrealistic: in broad strokes, the individuals, their genetics, and their
environment are too simple and too invariant. We have grossly oversimplified
anything close to actual fish body design
(Blake, 2004;
Gemballa and Roder, 2004), we
ignore the possibility that burst speed and tail length are related
(Aubret et al., 2005), we fail
to consider alternative adaptation explanations related to acceleration
performance or unrelated to swimming mechanics, and we isolate locomotor
systems at the cost of losing important interactions between swimming and prey
capture (Rice and Westneat,
2005). The list goes on. In our defense, any modeler, whether
their canvas is software or hardware, must decide what to include and what to
omit. Our premise was akin to that used to justify parsimony: in the absence
of a reason to include one feature over another, start with the simplest
possible model that produces the desired behavior, in this case, autonomous
navigation during swimming. This start-simple approach can also be supported
phenomenologically, since even a single addition to a simple autonomous agent
creates novel navigation behavior that is difficult to understand analytically
(Braitenberg, 1984).
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