Collaborative Research: Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and the Evolution of Feeding Strategies in Fossil and Living Mysticete Cetaceans

加州大学河滨分校（University of California, Riverside）的约翰·盖茨西（John Gatesy）博士获得了一笔赠款，用于研究地球上最大的动物——须鲸的进化史。长须鲸之间的进化关系目前还没有定论。这项拟议的研究结合了对人们知之甚少的鲸鱼化石物种的详细分析，其中许多是在南加州发现的，以及对现存神秘菌的全面遗传特征。各种各样的古生物学和分子数据将被用来研究这些巨型动物在过去3000万年的地球历史中是如何进化的。鲸鱼长期以来一直吸引着公众的兴趣和注意力。因此，这项研究的一个重要目标是教育和公众宣传。这项拨款的结果将作为一个框架来解释从祖先齿鲸到更衍生的须鲸的根本转变。这个引人注目的进化例子将被纳入圣地亚哥自然历史博物馆的新展览计划中。此外，本科生和研究生将参与研究的各个阶段，并将接受现代生物技术方面的广泛培训。最后，大多数神秘菌都是高度濒危的，有些濒临灭绝。本研究收集的数据将为保护须鲸提供重要信息。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. John Gatesy at the University of California, Riverside to study the evolutionary history of Mysticeti (baleen whales), the largest animals on earth. Evolutionary relationships among baleen whale are, at present, unresolved. The proposed study combines the detailed analysis of poorly understood fossil whale species, many of which were found in southern California, with comprehensive genetic characterization of living mysticetes. The diverse paleontological and molecular data will be used to examine how these giant animals have evolved over the past thirty million years of earth history. Whales have long captured the interest and attention of the public. Therefore, an important objective of this study is education and public outreach. Results from this grant will be used as a framework to interpret the radical transformation from ancestral toothed whales to the more derived baleen-bearing whales. This remarkable example of evolution will be incorporated into a new exhibit planned at the San Diego Natural History Museum. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in all phases of the research and will receive broad training in modern biological techniques. Finally, most mysticetes are highly endangered, and several are on the brink of extinction. The data collected in this study will offer critical information for the conservation of baleen whales.