Dissertation: Phylogeny of Ephemeroptera:Evolution of the Subimago and Nymphal Gills With Implications on the Origin of Flight

论文：蜉蝣目系统发育：潜象和若虫鳃的进化对飞行起源的影响

• 批准号: 0206505
• 负责人: Michael Whiting
• 金额: $ 0.98万
• 依托单位: Brigham Young University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-06-01 至 2004-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0206505&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Phylogeny; Ephemeroptera; Evolution; Subimago

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Michael Whiting and Mr. T. Ogden at Brigham Young University to study the relationships and specific adaptations of mayflies. The Ephemeroptera (mayflies) is a relatively small insect order of about 3000 species distributed throughout the world. These insects are considered by many to be the first organisms to have taken flight. Despite this interesting characteristic, relationships among this group and between other insect groups are virtually unknown. The three goals of this research are to (1) determine ordinal position with respect to the other insect orders, (2) estimate higher-level relationships of mayflies at the familial level, and (3) investigate hypotheses concerning adaptation of flight. This will be accomplished by: (a) Selecting numerous examples of mayfly and other related insects from throughout the world for morphological and molecular analysis; (b) Generating informative morphological and molecular characters from five independent genes in each these insects; (c) Subjecting these data to a rigorous analyses in order to establish a robust estimate of relationships (genealogies), which can be used to address questions concerning the adaptation of flight.The genealogical pattern produced through this study could be used for a variety of other purposes. For example, the results may also contribute to the sport of fly fishing, as mayfly larvae, which are aquatic, are the major trout food in river systems . In addition mayflies are one of the most important indicators of water quality. Results from this study could be used to improve project design and execution. Finally, this information will assist to make better and more informed decisions concerning biological diversity and conservation. Knowledge of the relationships of mayflies is important not only to science but also may be applied to a number of other areas of concern.

迈克尔·怀廷博士和T先生获得了一笔赠款。奥格登在杨百翰大学研究蜉蝣的关系和具体的适应。蜉蝣目（蜉蝣）是一个相对较小的昆虫目，约3000种，分布在世界各地。这些昆虫被许多人认为是第一个飞行的生物。尽管有这个有趣的特征，但这一群体和其他昆虫群体之间的关系实际上是未知的。本研究的三个目标是（1）确定相对于其他昆虫目的顺序位置，（2）估计蜉蝣在家族水平上的更高层次的关系，（3）调查有关飞行适应的假设。这将通过以下方式实现：（a）从世界各地挑选大量蜉蝣和其他有关昆虫进行形态和分子分析;（B）从每种昆虫的五个独立基因中产生信息丰富的形态和分子特征;（c）对这些数据进行严格分析，以便对各种关系作出可靠的估计，（系谱），可用于解决有关飞行适应的问题。通过这项研究产生的系谱模式可用于各种其他目的。例如，这些结果也可能有助于飞蝇捕鱼，因为蜉蝣幼虫是水生的，是河流系统中鳟鱼的主要食物。此外，蜉蝣是水质最重要的指标之一。本研究的结果可用于改进项目设计和执行。最后，这些资料将有助于就生物多样性和养护作出更好和更知情的决定。了解蜉蝣的关系不仅对科学很重要，而且还可以应用于其他一些令人关注的领域。