Collaborative Research: The Effects Of Broad-Scale Climate Variability on Evolutionary Pattern: Comparative Tempo and Mode in Cretaceous and Neogene Marine Molluscs.

合作研究：大尺度气候变化对进化模式的影响：白垩纪和新近纪海洋软体动物的比较节奏和模式。技术描述：这项研究旨在解决古生物学研究中的一个中心问题：进化节奏和模式是如何变化的？尽管这个问题已经争论了几十年，但这项研究超越了以前的方法，它的重点是测试整个古气候制度？绿色气候和冰屋气候的区别是什么？与不同气候阶段相关的环境变化的伴随速率对进化的速度和模式起着调节作用。这是建立在谢尔顿？S(1996年)？外加变化？该模型表明环境变异性的速度影响进化反应。为了验证这一总体假设，将从温室(白垩纪晚期)和冰库区间(新近纪)收集数据。更具体地说，我们将采样北美西部内海(WIS)的坎帕尼亚-马斯特里赫斯单位以及佛罗里达州的中新世-更新世单位。这些分析将集中在与白垩纪祖先和新近纪后代关系相对密切的各种软体动物谱系上，如绿螺科、核壳科和性病科双壳类，以及本地人和甲壳类腹足类。收集的标本将使用传统的尺寸测量和形状分析进行分析，以通过研究间隔来调查形态变化的性质。此外，为了调查地层结构可能对记录中记录的演化模式的方式产生的影响，我们还将研究Wis的白垩纪分类群，Wis是一个具有相对连续沉积的前陆盆地，在美国墨西哥湾海岸具有同时代沉积，这是一个被动边缘环境，具有明显更多的沉积中断。更广泛的意义和重要性：自从达尔文首次发表他的著作，将自然选择确立为产生进化变化的一种突出机制以来，进化的时机(节奏)和自然(模式)一直是众多研究的持久主题。随着“断断续续的均衡”的出现，这一问题的争议性走到了前台，这引发了一系列研究，以考察不同群体的变化。这项研究建立在前人研究的基础上，但通过关注环境变化的速度是否会影响进化反应的性质，为节奏和模式的研究增加了一个新的维度。从理论上讲，这一提议的更广泛的意义在于，这是第一个专门研究不同气候模式对生物群进化反应的影响的研究。此外，鉴于这项研究的多学科性质，个人投资促进机构将积极参与对本科生和研究生进行广泛的地质学方法的培训，以收集和分析数据。最后，该项目涉及研究型大学与地球博物馆之间的协同作用，这将扩大传播结果及其影响的场所，并将其作为向公众展示科学进化辩论证据的一种手段。

Collaborative Research: The Effects Of Broad-Scale Climate Variability on Evolutionary Pattern: Comparative Tempo and Mode in Cretaceous and Neogene Marine Molluscs.Technical Description:This study aims to address a central question in paleobiologic research: how variable is evolutionary tempo and mode? Although the issue has been debated for several decades, this study goes beyond earlier approaches in that it is focused on testing whether overall paleoclimatic regime ? the differences between green- and icehouse climates ? and the concomitant rates of environmental change associated with different climate phases play a role in regulating the rate and pattern of evolution. This builds on Sheldon?s (1996) ?plus ça change? model that suggests that the rate of environmental variability influences the evolutionary response. To test this over-arching hypothesis, data will be gathered from a greenhouse (the Late Cretaceous) as well as icehouse intervals (the Neogene). More specifically, we will sample Campanian-Maastrichtian units in the North American Western Interior Seaway (WIS) as well as the Miocene-Pleistocene units of Florida. The analyses will focus on various molluscan lineages that have relatively closely related Cretaceous ancestors and Neogene descendents, such as lucinid, nuculid, and venerid bivalves as well as naticid and turritellid gastropods. The collected specimens will be analyzed using traditional size measurements as well as shape analysis to investigate the nature of morphologic change through the intervals studied. Furthermore, to investigate the effects that stratigraphic architecture may have on the manner in which evolutionary patterns are recorded in the record, we will also examine the same Cretaceous taxonomic groups in the WIS, a foreland basin with relatively continuous sedimentation, with coeval deposits in the US Gulf Coast, a passive-margin setting with substantially more sedimentary breaks. Broader Significance and Importance:Since Darwin first published his opus that established natural selection as a prominent mechanism for producing evolutionary change, the timing (tempo) and nature (mode) of evolution has remained a persistent theme of numerous studies. The contentiousness of the issue came to the forefront with the advent of ?punctuated equilibrium?, which initiated a range of studies into examining changes in various groups. This study builds on those previous ones, but adds a new dimension to the study of tempo and mode by focusing on whether or not the rate of environmental change can influence the nature of the evolutionary response. Intellectually, the broader significance of this proposal is that this is the first study to specifically examine the influence of different climate modes on the biotas evolutionary response. Furthermore, given the multidisciplinary nature of this study, the PIs will be actively engaged in training undergraduate and graduate students in a broad spectrum of geologic approaches to collecting and analyzing data. Finally, the project involves the synergy between research universities and the Museum of the Earth, which will broaden the venues through which the results and its implications can be disseminated and used as an means of presenting evidence of the scientific evolution debate to the public.