Dissertation Research: Phylogenetic Relationships, Ontogenetic Color Change, and Antipredator Adaptation in the Colubrinae (Serpentes)

适应的主题在进化生物学历史上的大部分时间里一直是其中心话题之一。纳入系统发育信息的适应研究的现代方法仍然是非常新的，只是刚刚开始广泛使用。蛇的不同颜色模式与避免捕食有关的适应价值在历史上受到了不同背景下的极大关注，包括模仿、隐藏和飞行中的捕食者混淆。这项研究允许将适应性假说的现代检验应用于个体发育过程中变化的轨迹。它将研究个体发育颜色模式变化在选定的蛇类中的适应性意义，因为它可能与防御捕食有关。在系统发育的背景下研究颜色变化和形态计量学的相关性将构成本次研究的基础。这项研究的结果将允许对颜色模式和个体发育颜色模式是防御捕食的适应的假设进行检验。这项工作的结果将进一步加深我们对进化及其影响的理解。

9902182LososThe subject of adaptation has been one of the central topics in evolutionary biology for most of its history. Modern approaches to the study of adaptation incorporating phylogenic information are still very new and are only beginning to be widely used. The adaptive value of different color patterns in snakes as it relates to avoiding predation has received much attention historically in different contexts, including mimicry, concealment and predator confusion during flight. This study permits the application of modern test of adaptational hypotheses to a trail that varies during ontogeny. It will examine the adaptive significance of ontogenetric color pattern changes in selected colubrine snakes as it may relate to defense against predation. The correlation of color change and morphometrics studied in the context of phylogeny will form the basis of this investigation. The results of this study will permit testing of the hypothesis that color patterns and ontogenetic color patterns are adaptations for defense against predation. The results of this work will further our understanding of evolution and its effects.