Collaborative Research - Phylogenetic Analysis of a Model Insect Group for Ecological and Evolutionary Study: neotropical Ithomiine Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

俄勒冈州立大学的Andrew V. browwer博士和俄勒冈州立大学的Andrew V. browwer博士获得了一项合作资助。托马斯·埃梅尔和基思·威尔莫特在佛罗里达大学进行了一项综合系统发育分析，分析了亚种蝴蝶之间的关系。一个多世纪以来，进化生物学家和生物地理学家一直对这些热带蝴蝶感兴趣，因为它们参与了复杂的、地理上不同的模仿圈。不同种类的ithomiines，以及各种其他蝴蝶群体的代表，已经进化出相似的外观，色彩鲜艳的翅膀图案，使它们对捕食者来说很容易记住。因为蝴蝶是有毒的，鲜艳的颜色图案可以作为一种警告，让它们避开长相相似的个体，因此共享共同的信号系统有很大的好处。这种复杂适应的结果是，不相关的物种可能看起来几乎相同，这使得理解种群中物种和属之间关系的努力变得更加复杂。Willmott和Emmel将对成虫的形态和染色体变异进行分支分析。布劳尔将通过研究DNA序列中的其他字符来补充这一努力。目标是根据形态学、染色体结构和分子数据的综合分析，为50个左右的属之间的关系提出一个健全的系统发育假说。这将为解决许多其他动物和植物群体的类似复杂情况提供一个模型系统，并将使我们更好地了解我们星球上的生物多样性是如何发展的。

DEB-0089886Andrew V. BrowerA collaborative grant has been awarded to Dr. Andrew Brower at Oregon State University and Drs. Thomas Emmel and Keith Willmott at the University of Florida to conduct an integrated phylogenetic analysis of relationships among the ithomiine butterflies. These tropical butterflies have been of interest to evolutionary biologists and biogeographers for more than a century, because they participate in complex, geographically varying mimicry rings. Different species of ithomiines, along with representatives of various other butterfly groups, have evolved similar-looking, brightly-colored wing patterns that make them memorable to predators. Because the butterflies are poisonous, the bright color pattern serves as a warning to avoid similar looking individuals, and thus there is a great benefit to sharing in the common signaling system. The result of this complex adaptation is that unrelated species may look virtually identical, complicating efforts to understand the relationships among species and genera in the group. Willmott and Emmel will conduct cladistic analyses of adult morphology and chromosome variation. Brower will complement that effort with study of additional characters from DNA sequences. The goal is to produce a robust phylogenetic hypothesis for relationships among the 50 or so genera based upon combined analysis of morphology, chromosomal structure, and molecular data. This will provide a model system for addressing similar complex situations among many other groups of animals and plants, and will allow a better understanding of how biodiversity on our planet has developed.