REU/RIA: Reconstructing Articulate Brachiopod Phylogeny: Relevance to Hypotheses of Adaptation and Heterochrony

腕足动物是一种海洋无脊椎动物，现存物种相对较少，但化石记录丰富多样，有3000多个属。最近获得博士学位的桑德拉·卡尔森博士建议对他们的祖先-后代关系进行超家庭层面的研究。她将开始对一个关键的化石类群——Porambonitacea进行物种水平的研究，然后从文献中挑选出一个关节目所有超科的形态特征属水平的数据集。第一个子项目将有助于建立适当的分析特征，为第二个更高层次的研究奠定基础。人们对腕足动物的进化和灭绝模式进行了大量的研究，但如果对这一群体的分类构建不正确，那么这种模式就值得怀疑。这项提议的研究将是对海洋无脊椎动物化石的主要群体之一的进化关系的第一个明确的、可重复的分析。由此产生的分类将提供一个前所未有的客观综合水平，并将为无脊椎古生物学家提供一个可以遵循的模型。

Brachipods are marine invertebrates with relatively few living species but a rich, diverse fossil record of more than 3,000 genera. Dr. Sandra Carlson, a recent Ph.D., proposes a superfamily-level study of their ancestor-descendant relationships. She will begin a species-level study of a pivotal fossil group, the Porambonitacea, and then assemble a genus- level dataset on morphological characters for all superfamilies of the Articulata, to be culled from the literature. The first subproject will help to establish the proper characters for analysis, setting the stage for the second higher level study. Considerable research has been done on patterns of evolution and extinction of the Brachiopoda through time, but if the classification of the group is incorrectly constructed, then the patterns are suspect. The proposed study will be the first explicit, repeatable analysis of evolutionary relationships in one of the dominant groups of marine fossil invertebrates. The resulting classification will provide an unprecendented level of objective synthesis, and will provide a model for invertebrate paleontologists to follow.