Systematics and Evolutionary Ecology of New and Old-World Avian Sister Radiations (Aves: Mimidae & Sturnidae)

新旧世界鸟类姐妹辐射的系统学和进化生态学（鸟纲：Mimidae）

• 批准号: 0515981
• 负责人: Irby Lovette
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Cornell Univ - State: AWDS MADE PRIOR MAY 2010
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-07-01 至 2009-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0515981&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Systematics; Evolutionary; Ecology; New; Old

The world's 150 species of mockingbirds and starlings have truly remarkable diversity in singing behavior, mating systems, coloration, geographic distributions, and other traits of high interest to both biologists and the general public. By using DNA as a powerful source of information on the similarities and differences among species, evolutionary trees for these two charismatic families of birds will determined. This study will generate the first robust evolutionary trees for two groups birds that have previously been the subjects of diverse research initiatives in ecology, behavior, and physiology, and these trees will join the growing "Tree of Life" that combines information from many NSF-funded projects. These evolutionary trees will be used to explore the reasons why certain species exhibit certain traits: for example, why do some but not all mockingbirds mimic the sounds of other birds? Why do some starlings breed in large cooperative groups, whereas other species nest in solitary pairs? Questions like these can only be answered well when studies of current phenomena are combined with explorations of the deeper evolutionary roots of those biological traits. In the public realm, this project will allow to use many media outlets to highlight the importance of evolution by linking evolutionary trees with topics of popular interest such as mating behavior, mimicry, beautiful birds, and biodiversity.

世界上150种模仿鸟和八哥在唱歌行为，交配系统，着色，地理分布以及其他备受关注的特征方面具有真正的多样性。通过将DNA作为有关物种之间相似性和差异的强大信息来源，将确定这两个具有魅力的鸟类家族的进化树。这项研究将为两组鸟类生成第一棵坚固的进化树，这些鸟类以前是生态学，行为和生理学研究计划的主题，这些树木将加入不断增长的“生命之树”，结合了许多NSF资助的项目的信息。这些进化树将用于探索某些物种表现出某些特征的原因：例如，为什么一些但不是所有模仿鸟都模仿其他鸟的声音？ 为什么有些八哥在大型合作群体中繁殖，而其他物种则以孤立的对筑巢？ 只有当对当前现象的研究与对这些生物学特征的更深层进化根的探索相结合时，只有这样的问题才能得到很好的回答。 在公共领域，该项目将允许许多媒体通过将进化树与流行的主题（例如交配行为，模仿，美丽的鸟类和生物多样性）联系起来来强调进化的重要性。