Dissertation Research: A Hierachical Analysis of PhylogenticRelationships in Bufonidae

蟾蜍是蟾蜍科的一个大家族， 研究物种多样化的模式和过程，但 如果不了解这些，就无法实现潜力 家族成员之间的系统发育关系。 没有 稳健的系统发育假说。 而 家庭的大规模禁止估计一个后代 解析到种级别，则不需要此详细级别 来回答很多问题 相反，我们需要的是 了解主要物种之间的系统发育关系 该科的分支和最近的小分支内 分歧的物种 这项研究代表了一种分层的方法， 蟾蜍科系统发育关系的阐明 应用这些信息来了解物种 多样化经营。 代表性物种的DNA序列数据， 家庭内部的两个层次的分歧： 物种和一个物种组内，将用于估计 在这些层次上的系统发育关系。 有一个系统发育的 假设为远亲类群，两个问题将是 涉及：1）各大洲之间的地理关系; 2） 形态创新 假设系统发育 一个种群内的关系， 将研究物种形成。

True toads of the large family Bufonidae are a rich resource for studying pattern and process in species diversification, but the potential cannot be realized without an understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among the family's members. There is no robust phylogenetic hypothesis available for Bufonidae. While the large size of the family prohibits the estimation of a phylogeny resolved to the species level, this level of detail is not required to answer many questions. Instead what is needed is an understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among the major subclades of the family and within small clades of recently diverged species. This study represents a hierarchical approach to the elucidation of phylogenetic relationships within Bufonidae and the application of this information to an understanding of species diversification. DNA sequence data from representative species at two levels of divergence within the family: among distantly related species and within one species group, will be used to estimate phylogenetic relationships at these levels. With a phylogenetic hypothesis for the distantly related taxa, two questions will be addressed: 1) biogeographic relationships among continents and 2) morphological innovation. With a hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships within one species group, patterns and processes of speciation will be studied.