REU: Phenotypic Diversification in Gasterosteus

在最后一次更新世冰川前进期间， 现在的三棘鱼 （Gasterosteus aculeatus）. 当冰川开始退缩 14,000年前，各种各样的淡水栖息地 随后被三棘鱼占领 今天，由此产生的淡水种群正在经历快速的 在整个西北部的进化多样化 在某些情况下，物种形成已经发生。 这 最近的辐射非常有希望提供 进化的模式和机制的信息 变化 它还提供了一个适应性辐射的模型， 有新的属和更高的分类群。 这项研究将首次确定， 海洋三棘松的繁殖行为模式 刺鱼，以及它们在不同地点之间的变化程度。 这 对于解释地球上的变化模式至关重要。 辐射，因为海洋形式被认为已经引起了 到今天所观察到的不同的淡水形式。 此外，本发明还提供了一种方法， 20多个阿拉斯加人的生殖行为的多样性 淡水种群将被记录。 这些观察结果 将不仅提供第一近似的范围， 阿拉斯加淡水种群的行为多样性， 但这将使研究人员能够选择人口， 特定行为进化的未来研究 表型

During the last Pleistocene glacial advance, ice covered much of the modern day range of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). As the glaciers began to retreat about 14,000 years ago, a diversity of freshwater habitats were created and subsequently colonized by the marine threespine stickleback. Today, the resultant freshwater populations are undergoing rapid evolutionary diversification throughout northwestern North America, and in some cases speciation has occurred. This remarkable, recent radiation holds great promise for providing information on the patterns and mechanisms of evolutionary change. It also provides a model for adaptive radiations that have new genera and higher taxa. The proposed research will determine, for the first time, the reproductive behavior patterns exhibited by marine threespine stickleback, and the extent to which they vary among sites. This is essential for interpreting the patterns of change in the radiation because the marine form is thought to have given rise to the divergent freshwater forms observed today. In addition, the diversity of reproductive behavior in twenty or more Alaskan freshwater populations will be documented. These observations will not only provide a first approximation of the range of behavioral diversification among Alaskan freshwater populations, but will enable the investigators to select populations for future research on the evolution of specific behavioral phenotypes.