IRFP: Towards Global Synthesis of Mud Crabs: Utilizing Phylogenetic Relatedness to Derive a Biologically Meaningful Classification and Infer Historical Origins of Cryptogenic Taxa

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。该项目的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并提供了使用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件的机会。该奖项将资助Brent P.Thoma博士与Peter K.L.Ng教授在新加坡国立大学莱佛士生物多样性研究博物馆合作的为期24个月的研究奖学金。该项目旨在阐明地理上广泛分布和分类多样化的超家族泥蟹(Xanthoidae)的进化关系。对新旧大陆分类群的研究的整合是迄今为止最大的泥蟹遗传数据集，拥有来自近300个物种的10个基因的数据。该信息允许在全球范围内推断泥蟹的进化关系，以努力1)测试当前用于描绘各种黄素类分类群的形态特征是否反映进化关联或是收敛的结果，2)确定沿着黄类系统发育的主干的短分支长度是否代表在泥蟹进化早期发生的快速辐射事件，以及3)推断潜在入侵或隐源分类的历史起源。除了关于泥蟹进化的知识增加的明显益处之外，这项研究将有助于推动国际生物多样性国际与莱佛士生物多样性研究博物馆和新加坡共和国国立大学(Peter K.L.Ng教授、Joelle C.Y.Lai博士和J.C.Mdoza博士)以及美国路易斯安那州拉斐特的路易斯安那大学(Darryl L.Feld教授)的研究小组之间的新的国际合作。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Brent P. Thoma to work with Prof. Peter K. L. Ng at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.This project aims to clarify the evolutionary relationships of the geographically widespread and taxonomically diverse superfamily of mud crabs known as Xanthoidea. The integration of studies on New and Old World taxa represents the largest genetic dataset of mud crabs, to date, with data for 10 genes from nearly 300 species. This information allows for the inference of evolutionary relationships of the mud crabs on a global scale in an effort to 1) test if the morphological characteristics currently used to delineate various xanthoid taxa reflect evolutionary relatedness or are the result of convergence, 2) determine if short branch lengths along the backbone of the xanthoid phylogeny are representative of a rapid radiation event that occurred early in the evolution of the mud crabs, and 3) infer the historical origins of potentially invasive or cryptogenic taxa.In addition to the obvious benefit of increased knowledge about the evolution of mud crabs, this research will help develop new international collaboration between the PI and research groups at Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and the National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore (Prof. Peter K. L. Ng, Dr. Joelle C. Y. Lai, and Dr. J. C. Mendoza) and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA (Prof. Darryl L. Felder).