AToL: Collaborative Research: AmphibiaTree--An Integrated Phylogenetic and Bioinformatics Approach to the Tree of Amphibians

作为四个机构合作的一部分，哈佛大学的詹姆斯·汉肯博士获得了一笔资助，用于研究现生两栖动物及其化石近亲的系统发育关系。活的两栖动物是地球脊椎动物区系的重要组成部分，包括三个目：无尾目（Gymnophiona），蝾螈（Caudata），青蛙和蟾蜍（无尾目）。尽管最近在发现和描述它们的多样性方面取得了进展，但两栖动物进化中的许多关键问题仍然没有解决，需要对进化关系进行新的分析以考虑新的发现。 此外，最近许多环境中两栖动物的减少和明显灭绝使得我们迫切需要发现和分类今天的多样性。 来自不同机构（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校，加州大学伯克利分校，哈佛大学和堪萨斯大学）的七名研究人员及其同事将合作解决现代两栖动物的关系。 在生物多样性热点地区进行实地取样将提供新的或以前未取样的谱系材料。来自活的和化石形式的解剖学和形态学数据将与尽可能多的物种的一组确定的线粒体和核基因的DNA序列相结合，并将与现有的数据集相结合。 对这些大型数据集的分析将用于深入了解诸如重复的进化模式、地理模式和进化速率等问题。汉肯博士和他的学生和同事将专注于非洲青蛙的形态和解剖学研究，以及新热带区plethodontid蝾螈的选择群体，以及有助于分子和形态数据集的系统发育分析的整体整合。了解现代两栖动物的进化历史对于制定两栖动物的保护策略以及完成生命之树的脊椎动物部分至关重要。 该项目将涉及广泛的学生培训和与美国和国际同事的互动。 与公众的交流将利用网络资源，特别是AmphibiaWeb，这是一个现有的网站，将扩大和进一步发展，为专业人员和广大公众提供关于所有两栖动物物种的信息。 AmphibiaWeb还将为学生和高级专业人员提供培训机会，使他们能够更有效地交流他们的研究结果。

0334846Hanken A grant has been awarded to Dr. James Hanken at Harvard University, as part of a four-institution collaboration, to study phylogenetic relationships of the living amphibians and their close fossil relatives. Living Amphibians are a prominent part of the Earth's vertebrate fauna and include three orders: the caecilians (Gymnophiona), salamanders (Caudata), and frogs and toads (Anura). Despite recent advances in discovering and describing their diversity, many critical questions in amphibian evolution remain unresolved and a fresh analysis of evolutionary relationships is needed to take new discoveries into account. Furthermore, the recent decline and apparent extinction of amphibians from many environments makes it urgent that we discover and classify the diversity present today. A team of seven investigators from diverse institutions (University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, and the University of Kansas) and their colleagues will collaborate to resolve modern amphibian relationships. Field sampling in biodiversity hotspots will provide materials of new or previously unsampled lineages. Anatomical and morphological data from living and fossil forms will be combined with DNA sequences from a set of defined mitochondrial and nuclear genes for as many species as possible, and will be integrated with existing data sets. Analysis of these large data sets will be used to gain insight into such questions as repeated patterns of evolution, geographic patterns, and rates of evolution. Dr. Hanken and his students and colleagues will focus on morphological and anatomical studies of African frogs and on select groups of Neotropical plethodontid salamanders, as well as contributing to the overall integration of molecular and morphological datasets for phylogenetic analysis. Understanding the evolutionary history of modern amphibians is critical for developing conservation strategies for amphibians as well as completing the vertebrate portion of the tree of life. The project will involve extensive student training and interaction with US and international colleagues. Communication with the public will utilize web resources, especially AmphibiaWeb, an existing site that will be expanded and further developed to provide information on all species of amphibians for professionals and the public at large. AmphibiaWeb will also provide training opportunities for students and senior professionals to enable them more effectively to communicate their findings.