DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Liochelidae of the Indo-Pacific Region: Systematics and Biogeography

印度-太平洋地区复杂的地质历史--包括五个构造板块、众多微大陆和火山岛弧之间的相互作用--产生了世界上最丰富但最不为人所知的生物群之一。与该地区的其他生物一样，印度-太平洋蝎子的多样性和地方性很高。该项目利用解剖学和分子数据研究了印度-太平洋地区蝎科的多样性、进化和生物地理学。由于其有限的扩散能力、特殊的栖息地要求和较高的地方性比率，Liochelid蝎子是进化和生物地理研究的理想模式生物。这些蝎子的进化历史与过去3500万年来的大地构造事件之间的一致性将使用分子时钟进行评估。鉴于自然栖息地的迅速破坏和物种的加速灭绝，调查、清点和描述印度-太平洋地区生物群的紧迫性怎么强调都不为过。Liochelid蝎子大多生活在受威胁的热带森林中，是环境干扰和特有地区的良好指示器。对其多样性和分布的综合分析将为印度洋-太平洋地区的养护和生物多样性管理提供数据。该项目提供的生物地理分析还将为地质学家提供数据，他们越来越依赖这种研究来证实地质假说。

The complex geological history of the Indo-Pacific region -- involving interactions between five tectonic plates, numerous microcontinents, and volcanic island arcs -- has produced one of the world's richest, yet least well known, biotas. As with other organisms in this region, the diversity and endemism of Indo-Pacific scorpions is high. This project investigates the diversity, evolution and biogeography of the scorpion family Liochelidae in the Indo-Pacific, using anatomical and molecular data. Liochelid scorpions are ideal model organisms for evolutionary and biogeographical studies due to their restricted dispersal ability, specific habitat requirements and high rate of endemism. Congruence between the evolutionary history of these scorpions and geotectonic events during the last 35 million years will be assessed using molecular clocks.The urgency of surveying, inventorying and describing the biota of the Indo-Pacific region cannot be underemphasized given the rapid destruction of natural habitats and accelerating extinction of species. Liochelid scorpions, which mostly inhabit threatened tropical forests, are good indicators of environmental disturbance and areas of endemism. A synthesis of their diversity and distribution will provide data for conservation and biodiversity management in the Indo-Pacific. The biogeographical analysis presented by this project will also provide data for geologists, who increasingly rely on such studies to corroborate geological hypotheses.