Turtles of the World: Global Systematics for an Imperiled Clade

深入了解地球上的动植物多样性，也许是进化生物学家、生态学家和保护规划者在21世纪面临的最重要的挑战。在这项研究中，基于DNA的现代工具将被用来制作地球上每一种海龟和陆龟的进化家谱。海龟是一个古老的群体，有超过2亿年的现存物种，还有许多物种徘徊在灭绝的边缘。这棵家谱，或称遗传学，将详细总结大约313种现存海龟中每一种的遗传独特性，以及这些物种如何随着时间的推移而相互分化。 该项目将提供海龟物种排序所需的基本进化信息，以确定保护的优先顺序。鉴于世界上超过50%的海龟和陆龟物种面临灭绝的危险，这样的排名方案对于帮助指导保护工作至关重要。它还将有助于确定物种的那些特征，如大的体型，繁殖栖息地，或寿命，有助于他们的濒危状态。通过更好地了解进化特征和濒危程度之间的关系，这些结果将有助于保护主义者在全球范围内保护海龟和陆龟物种。系统学和保护生物学的公共教育和学生培训是这项研究的组成部分。

Deeper understanding of the plant and animal diversity on earth is perhaps the most important challenge faced by evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and conservation planners in the twenty-first century. In this study, modern DNA-based tools will be used to produce an evolutionary family tree of every species of turtle and tortoise on earth. Turtles are an ancient group, with living species that are well over 200 million years old, and many species that are hovering on the brink of extinction. This family tree, or phylogeny, will provide a detailed summary of the genetic distinctiveness of each of the approximately 313 species of living turtles, and how those species have diverged from each other over time. This project will provide the basic evolutionary information needed to rank turtle species for conservation prioritization. Given that over 50% of the world's turtle and tortoise species are in danger of extinction, such a ranking scheme is of critical importance to help guide conservation efforts. It will also help identify those features of species, such as large body size, breeding habitat, or longevity that contribute to their endangered status. By better understanding the relationship between evolved characteristics and level of endangerment, these results will help conservationists preserve turtle and tortoise species globally. Public education and student training in systematics and conservation biology are integral components of this research.