REVSYS: Revisionary Systematics of the North American Scorpion Family Vaejovidae

REVSYS：北美蝎科 Vaejovidae 的修订系统学

• 批准号: 0413453
• 负责人: Lorenzo Prendini
• 金额: $ 41.46万
• 依托单位: American Museum Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0413453&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REVSYS; Revisionary; Systematics; North; American

DEB 0413453REVSYS: Revisionary Systematics of the North American scorpion family Vaejovidae PI: Lorenzo Prendini, American Museum of Natural History Co-PI: W. David Sissom, West Texas A&M University Although comprising a small component of terrestrial arthropod diversity, scorpions are of considerable interest to scientist and layman alike. Scorpion envenomation represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in some regions, e.g. Mexico, where 100,000 scorpion stings occur annually and 800 people die as a consequence. Scorpions are among the most ancient arthropods "derived from aquatic ancestors that lived in the Silurian, more than 400 Mya" but the morphology of modern species has hardly changed from fossil forms. Scorpions occur on all continents except Antarctica, from tropical rainforests to hot deserts, from sea level to 4,600 m elevation, and from the intertidal zone to the world's deepest caves. They are often abundant in suitable habitat and important in ecological food webs, e.g. in controlling insect populations. Scorpions are unusual among arthropods in that all species give birth to live young and several reproduce without fertilization (parthenogenesis). Scorpions resemble large vertebrates in their slow reproductive rates and remarkable longevity. Many are sensitive to environmental degradation. They are also increasingly threatened by habitat destruction and harvesting for the exotic pet trade. The small litter sizes, long generation times and low survivorship of most scorpions, taken together with their specific habitat requirements and restricted ranges, exacerbates their risk of extinction due to human activities. Inventorying their diversity and distribution is a priority for their conservation. Many scorpion families and genera have never been revised taxonomically and new species and distribution records continue to be discovered, even in regions previously thought well surveyed. The family Vaejovidae, restricted to North America, is the most diverse group of scorpions in the continent, comprising 10 genera (45%) and ca. 150 species (64%), but double the number of described species may be recognised once all habitats have been thoroughly surveyed. The position of Vaejovidae within the scorpion branch of the Tree of Life is unclear, the classification of vaejovid genera is a shambles, and the keys for identifying vaejovid species are unworkable. This REVSYS project, involving six US and Mexican specialists, a Mexican Ph.D. student, US and Mexican undergraduates and K-12 students, will rectify this situation by undertaking a phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of all vaejovid genera and species based on morphological and molecular (DNA sequence) data. Using existing museum material and new material collected during thirteen fieldtrips to the southwestern US and Mexico, new, automated diagnoses and descriptions will be produced for each species, accompanied by digital images of habitus and diagnostic characters, and GIS-produced distribution maps plotting all known records. A website with interactive maps and illustrated keys for identification of vaejovid subfamilies, genera and species, concise taxonomic treatments of each, cladograms illustrating phylogenetic relationships among them, a searchable specimen database, and other downloadable products of this research, will be provided. This revision and phylogeny of the vaejovid radiation will also contribute to the broader understanding of scorpion phylogeny, the evolution and speciation of arid-adapted arthropods, and the diversity, biogeography and conservation of the arid zone in southwestern North America.

北美蝎子科Vaejovidae的修订系统学PI: Lorenzo Prendini，美国自然历史博物馆合作PI: W. David Sissom，西德克萨斯a&m大学尽管蝎子只占陆地节肢动物多样性的一小部分，但科学家和外行都对蝎子有相当大的兴趣。蝎子中毒是一些地区发病和死亡的一个重要原因，例如墨西哥，每年发生10万起蝎子蜇伤事件，800人因此死亡。蝎子是最古老的节肢动物之一，“源自生活在400多万年前的志留纪的水生祖先”，但现代物种的形态与化石形式几乎没有变化。从热带雨林到炎热的沙漠，从海平面到海拔4600米，从潮间带到世界上最深的洞穴，除了南极洲以外的所有大陆都有蝎子的踪迹。它们通常在适宜的生境中丰富，在生态食物网中具有重要作用，例如控制昆虫种群。在节肢动物中，蝎子是不寻常的，因为所有的物种都生下活的幼崽，有些物种不受精繁殖（孤雌生殖）。蝎子与大型脊椎动物相似，繁殖速度慢，寿命长。许多人对环境恶化很敏感。它们也越来越多地受到栖息地破坏和外来宠物贸易的威胁。大多数蝎子产仔少、世代长、存活率低，再加上它们对栖息地的特殊要求和活动范围的限制，加剧了它们因人类活动而灭绝的风险。对它们的多样性和分布进行清点是保护它们的首要任务。许多蝎子科和属从未被修改过分类，新的物种和分布记录不断被发现，甚至在以前被认为调查得很好的地区也是如此。局限于北美的蝎科是该大陆最多样化的一组，包括10属（45%）和约150种（64%），但一旦对所有栖息地进行彻底调查，所描述的物种数量可能会增加一倍。蝎科在生命之树蝎子分支中的地位尚不明确，蝎科属的分类混乱，鉴定蝎科种的钥匙也不可行。REVSYS项目包括六名美国和墨西哥专家、一名墨西哥博士生、美国和墨西哥本科生以及K-12学生，将根据形态学和分子（DNA序列）数据对所有vaejovid属和种进行系统发育分析和分类修订，从而纠正这种情况。利用现有的博物馆资料和在美国西南部和墨西哥进行的13次实地考察中收集到的新资料，将对每个物种进行新的、自动化的诊断和描述，并附有习性和诊断特征的数字图像，以及gis生成的绘制所有已知记录的分布图。将提供一个网站，提供交互式地图和图解键，用于识别瓦伊乔科、属和种，每个亚科的简明分类处理，描述它们之间系统发育关系的进化图，一个可搜索的标本数据库，以及其他可下载的本研究产品。对vaejovid辐射的修正和系统发育也将有助于更广泛地了解蝎子的系统发育、适应干旱的节肢动物的进化和物种形成，以及北美西南部干旱区的多样性、生物地理和保护。