Collaborative Research: REVSYS: Systematic Revision of the Etherioidea, the Freshwater Mussels (Mollusca: Unionoida) of the Gondwanan Continents

合作研究：REVSYS：对冈瓦纳大陆的 Etherioidea、淡水贻贝（软体动物：Unionoida）进行系统修订

• 批准号: 0316125
• 负责人: Daniel Graf
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-09-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0316125&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; REVSYS; Systematic; Revision

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Daniel Graf of the Academy of Natural Sciences in collaboration with Kevin Cummings of the University of Illinois to document the diversity and evolutionary relationships of a group of southern hemisphere mollusks known as etherioidean freshwater mussels. These animals are of interest to biologists because of their wide distribution on South America, Africa, Madagascar, India and Australia and because they have a life cycle that involves a fascinating larval stage which is parasitic upon fish. Recent analyses indicate that etherioidean freshwater mussels are closely related to each other, and this, combined with their enormous geographic range on the southern continents suggests that these patterns are the result of ancient continental drift. This research will test these hypotheses of evolutionary relationship and biogeographical processes by synthesizing the vast amounts of zoological information about freshwater mussels that is housed in museums and recorded in over 250 years of biological literature. The result will be a complete synthesis and reclassification of the nearly 200 species of etherioidean freshwater mussels. The data and conclusions generated by this research will not only be made available through traditional media but will also take advantage of modern means of dissemination such as CD-ROMs and the internet (http://clade.acnatsci.org/mussel). While this information will be of interest to scientists and conservation officials, it will also serve teachers, students and all members of the public interested in better understanding their world. Besides providing a novel scientific perspective on an interesting, important and imperiled fauna, this study will also serve to train up-and-coming biologists through hands-on research experience.

自然科学院的丹尼尔·格拉夫博士与伊利诺伊大学的凯文·卡明斯合作，获得了一项资助，以记录一组被称为乙壳类淡水贻贝的南半球软体动物的多样性和进化关系。生物学家对这些动物很感兴趣，因为它们广泛分布在南美洲、非洲、马达加斯加、印度和澳大利亚，而且它们的生命周期包括一个寄生在鱼类身上的迷人的幼虫阶段。最近的分析表明，鳗目淡水贻贝彼此密切相关，再加上它们在南部大陆的巨大地理分布范围，表明这些模式是古代大陆漂移的结果。这项研究将通过综合博物馆收藏的大量淡水贻贝的动物学信息和250多年来的生物文献记录，来检验这些关于进化关系和生物地理过程的假设。结果将是对近200种甲壳纲淡水贻贝的完整合成和重新分类。这项研究产生的数据和结论不仅将通过传统媒体提供，而且还将利用现代传播手段，例如cd - rom和互联网（http://clade.acnatsci.org/mussel）。这些信息不仅会引起科学家和自然保护官员的兴趣，也会为教师、学生和所有对更好地了解他们的世界感兴趣的公众提供服务。除了提供一个有趣的、重要的和濒危的动物群的新的科学视角外，这项研究还将通过实践研究经验来培养有前途的生物学家。