Molecular Systematics and Tests of Monophyly Within the Small-bodied, Small-scaled Radiation of Sceloporus (Phrynosomatidae)

该项目包括一个密集的实地收集阶段 以及后续实验室分析阶段。 的 实地研究的中心，使研究收集几乎 在一位墨西哥科学家的指导下， 他和他的学生们， 属Sceloporus。 在收集的标本中，至少60%将 作为标准的博物馆凭证存放在研究收藏中 在墨西哥国立大学，和其余的标本（ 最终比例将由许可证要求确定）将 同样被收录在美国的收藏品中。 与此同时， 将从这些组织中收集大量冷冻组织样本 动物一旦被捕获，所有冷冻组织都将被 被送回美国的组织标本馆 将收集物种和不同的种群 非随机地，以便最大限度地利用样本， 解决生态学和历史学中的各种基本问题 传记。 例如，将收集选定的物种 从巴哈半岛，科尔特斯海的一些岛屿， 墨西哥西部大陆进行测试 关于岛屿人口来源的其他想法 相对于巴哈和大陆而言。 这些数据将具有 对理解整个宇宙起源的重要意义 岛屿生物多样性，因为这些岛屿上的所有物种都是 经历了形成巴哈的相同地质事件 半岛和科尔特斯海，并强调了 这些基本上仍然完好的保护系统。 第二 一群蜥蜴将从横向火山 墨西哥中部的范围，因为这些人口显示 从产卵到存活的不同阶段 繁殖方式与适应高 海拔 在这两种情况下，实验室工作将利用两个 分子标记物的独立类别，包括蛋白质和 DNA分子，来重建种群的家谱 抽检 实验室工作将支持广泛的培训 墨西哥和美国的机会和合作。 研究生和研究助理。

This project includes an intensive field collecting phase and a follow-up laboratory analysis phase, in that order. The field research centers on making research collections almost entirely in Mexico, under the direction of a Mexican scientist and his students, of the conspicuous and extremely diverse lizard genus Sceloporus. Of the specimens collected, at least 60% will be deposited as standard museum vouchers in a research collection at Mexico's National University, and the remaining specimens (the final proportions will be determined by permit requirements) will likewise be catalogued in U.S. collections. Simultaneously, large collection of frozen tissue samples will be made from these animals upon their capture, and all frozen tissues will be returned and catalogued into U.S. tissue collections. Species and distinct populations will be collected nonrandomly so as to maximize the utility of the samples for addressing a variety of basic questions in ecology and historical biogeography. For example, selected species are to be collected from the Baja Peninsula, some islands in the Sea of Cortez, and the western mainland of Mexico for the purpose of testing alternative ideas concerning the derivation of island populations relative to those of Baja and the mainland. These data will have important implications for understanding the origins of entire island biotas, since all species present on these islands were subjected to the same geological events which formed the Baja Peninsula and the Sea of Cortez, and for emphasizing the value of these still largely intact systems for conservation. A second group of lizards will be collected from the transverse volcanic range of central Mexico because these populations display different stages of the transition from egg-laying to live- bearing reproductive modes associated with adaptions to high elevations. In both cases, laboratory work will utilize two independent classes of molecular markers, including proteins and DNA molecules, to reconstruct the genealogies of the populations sampled. The lab work will support extensive training opportunities and collaboration for both Mexican and U.S. graduate students and research associates.