DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Analyzing trait-dependent diversification in lanternfishes (Scopelomorpha; Myctophidae)

该项目是首次定量研究不同形式的性二态生物发光特征对灯笼鱼(Myctophidae科)物种多样性模式的影响，灯笼鱼是最常见和分布最广泛的深海脊椎动物之一。分析将分三个阶段进行。首先，将利用线粒体和核蛋白编码的DNA序列，构建一棵由130多种灯笼鱼组成的进化树。其次，将使用传统和新型成像技术的组合来收集关于生物发光特征的神经支配的数据，以更准确地确定特征的数量和结构。第三，不同的特征将被映射到进化树上。然后将二态模式与单态模式进行统计比较，以评估二态生物发光特征对灯笼鱼多样性的影响。深海是地球上最大但最不为人所知的区域，生物发光是整个生命树上最丰富的特征之一。尽管有这些事实，但还没有研究定量分析生物发光结构的差异对深海生物物种多样性模式的影响。灯笼鱼提供了一个理想的模式组，以加强我们对这一鲜为人知的领域的进化的理解。

This project represents the first quantitative study of the effects that different forms of a sexually dimorphic bioluminescent trait have on patterns of species diversity in lanternfishes (family Myctophidae), one of the most common and widely distributed deep-sea vertebrate groups. Analysis will be conducted in three stages. First, an evolutionary tree of over 130 lanternfish species will be constructed, using both mitochondrial and nuclear protein-coding DNA sequences. Second, data on the innervation of the bioluminescent trait will be gathered using a combination of traditional and novel imaging techniques to more accurately determine the number and structure of traits. Third, the different traits will be mapped onto the evolutionary tree. Patterns of dimorphism will then be statistically compared with patterns of monomorphism to assess the effect of dimorphic bioluminescent traits on diversification in lanternfishes.The deep sea is both the largest and least well-known region on Earth, and bioluminescence is one of the most abundant traits across the tree of life. Despite these facts, no studies have yet quantitatively analyzed the effect of differences in bioluminescent structures on patterns of species diversity in deep-sea organisms. Lanternfishes present an ideal model group for enhancing our understanding of evolution in this poorly understood realm.