COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A Novel Phylogenetic Approach to the Analysis of Bat Phylogenetics and Morphological Evolution

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Even today's broadest taxonomic groups originated in the distant past as diversifications of single species, the progeny of which then proceeded along their own evolutionary paths. While these ancient diversifications will never be observed directly, patterns and processes leading to radiations of taxa that exist today can be studied. Thus, in order to truly understand how the tree of life came to be, ways to analyze genome-wide data at lower taxonomic levels must be found. The research will address this goal by integrating new, high throughput sequencing technologies with modern evolutionary analyses. The potential of this method will be explored by applying it to a difficult problem - the resolution of systematic relationships and patterns of morphological evolution in New World representatives of the bat genus Myotis. However, while the focus of this work is a single bat genus, the method will be broadly applicable to any taxonomic group in which retrotransposons (self-amplifying, neutral genetic elements in the genome) have been active during the radiation of interest. The methods to be developed have great potential in providing markers that are variable enough to resolve rapid radiations, while also being straightforward to analyze. Moreover, because this methodology is expected to be relatively inexpensive, it is anticipated that it will prove appealing to small labs that focus on resolving relationships among closely related species. The integration of multiple subdisciplines of Biology is often discussed but rarely realized. This project represents a unique attempt to integrate modern computational biological tools using genome level data and well established morphometric analyses. This project will contribute to the infrastructure of science by amassing tissue, skin and skeletal material that will fill gaps in terms of members of the genus Myotis and nontarget taxa. These materials will be deposited in a public repository (Museum of Natural History, LSU) and will be available in perpetuity to the scientific community. Finally, education and outreach to the local communities will be based on the investigation of a charismatic taxonomic group and will improve research and education in two traditionally underdeveloped states.