RUI: Molecular Phylogenetics and Biogeography of the Poison Frogs (Family Dendrobatidae)

该奖项旨在资助对秘鲁和亚马逊河流域其他地区的毒蛙（树蛙科）进行系统学和地理学调查。 该奖项将资助在该领域收集标本，并在实验室分析组织样本的DNA。组织样本（脚趾夹）将从秘鲁雨林偏远地区的毒蛙身上收集。这些和以前从亚马逊河其他地区获得的样本将用于通过分子遗传分析获得六个基因区的DNA序列。 种群间和种间的DNA序列变异将用于毒蛙科系统关系的系统发育分析。 人口之间的DNA序列变异的信息也将被用来调查亚马逊河流域基因流动的遗传分歧和地理障碍之间的关联。 最后，所获得的信息的系统关系的毒蛙将被用来调查生活史和生态特征的毒蛙，包括父母的照顾，鸡蛋和离合器的大小，蝌蚪沉积池的大小，蝌蚪食人，交配系统，和性二型之间的进化关联。这项研究将首次对毒蛙家族的系统关系进行全面分析。 它还将为最近关于亚马逊河流域为什么支持如此大量物种的辩论做出重要贡献。 这些争论大多集中在特定地理障碍对遗传分化的贡献上，本研究将直接解决相关假设。 从这项研究的系统结果将被用来调查有关的进化生态学的比较框架中的毒蛙的重要问题。

This award is to fund an investigation of the systematics and biogeography of the poison frogs (family Dendrobatidae) in Peru and other parts of Amazonia. The award will fund the collection of specimens in the field, and the analysis of DNA from tissue samples in the laboratory. Tissue samples (toe clips) will be collected from poison frogs from remote parts of the Peruvian rainforest. These and previously obtained samples from other regions of Amazonia will be used to obtain DNA sequences from six gene regions via molecular genetic analysis. The DNA sequence variation among populations and species will be used in a phylogenetic analysis of the systematic relationships of the poison frog family. Information on DNA sequence variation among populations will also be used to investigate associations between genetic divergence and geographic barriers to gene flow in Amazonia. Finally, the information obtained on the systematic relationships of the poison frogs will be used to investigate evolutionary associations between life history and ecological characteristics of the poison frogs, including parental care, egg and clutch size, tadpole deposition pool size, tadpole cannibalism, mating systems, and sexual dimorphism. This research will provide the first thorough analysis of systematic relationships in the poison frog family. It will also provide an important contribution to recent debates about why the Amazon River basin supports such a huge number of species. Most of these debates have centered on the contribution of specific geographic barriers to genetic divergence, and this research will directly address the relevant hypotheses. The systematic results from this research will be used to investigate important questions concerning the evolutionary ecology of the poison frogs in a comparative framework.