Collaborative Research: Systematics and Adaptive Radiation of Papuan Asterophryinae Frogs

在过去的十年里，新几内亚地区被发现是两栖动物生物多样性的热点地区，这里有世界上生态多样性最丰富的两栖动物群体之一——asterphryine蛙。星碱的多样性可能受到新几内亚独特的地质历史的影响。这些增生事件的年代相当准确，使研究人员能够根据地质事件校准生物多样性，并确定进化新事物产生的地质背景。这个系统不仅是研究物种如何繁殖的理想选择，而且还提供了独特的机会来推断重要过程发生的相对顺序。该项目将生成一份全面的星蛙系统发育树，评估物种繁殖所需的地质条件，并确定是自然选择先于物种多样化，还是相反。这些研究将确定这种物种适应性辐射的机制基础，并将为理解促进所有生物群体生物多样性的因素提供有价值的见解。这项研究的影响是多方面的。该项目将：(1)首次对种类繁多但研究较少的新几内亚动物群的任何部分进行详细的进化研究；(2)对小学学龄儿童进行实地考察，让他们从工作科学家那里了解生物多样性、两栖动物、功能形态和保护；(3)培养研究生和本科生的科研、教学、宣传和专业技能；(4)在科学领域招募代表性不足的少数民族和女性；(5)加强传统落后地区的科学培训。

In the past decade, the New Guinea region has been found to be a mega biodiversity hotspot for amphibians, containing one of the most ecologically diverse groups of amphibians in the world, the asterphryine frogs. Asterophryine diversity is likely influenced by New Guinea's unique geological history. These accretion events are fairly well dated, allowing the investigators to calibrate biological diversification to geological events and to determine the geological context in which evolutionary novelties arose. This system is not only ideal for studying how species multiply but also offers the unique opportunity to infer the relative order in which important processes occurred. This project will produce a comprehensive phylogenetic tree for the asterphryine frogs, assessing the geological conditions required for species to multiply, and determining whether natural selection preceded species diversification or vice versa. These studies will identify the mechanistic basis for this adaptive radiation of species, and will provide valuable insights for understanding the factors which promote biodiversity in all living groups. The impacts of this research are numerous. The project will: (1) provide the first detailed evolutionary study on any portion of the remarkably diverse but poorly studied New Guinea fauna; (2) include educational field trips for elementary-aged school children, allowing them to learn about biodiversity, amphibians, functional morphology, and conservation from working scientists; (3) train graduate and undergraduate students in research, teaching, public outreach, and professional skills; (4) recruit underrepresented minorities and women in the sciences; and (5) strengthen scientific training in a traditionally disadvantaged region.