DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Assessing early molluscan evolution with emphasis on aplacophorans

估计有200，000个活物种，软体动物是第二个物种丰富的动物群体。许多软体动物在经济、生态或生物医学上都很重要。此外，软体动物的身体计划是非常不同的，从蛞蝓到蛤蜊到巨型鱿鱼。由于化石记录中软体动物的变异、多样性和丰富性，近200年来人们对确定该群体的原始状况产生了极大的兴趣。被称为无壳类（拉丁语为“无壳”）的蠕虫状软体动物群长期以来被认为对理解早期软体动物进化很重要。然而，人们对这一主要是深海的群体的进化历史（进化史）知之甚少。这项研究旨在使用传统和尖端的下一代DNA测序技术相结合来重建aplacophoran的遗传学。新的形态学数据将收集使用传统的显微镜和字符将映射到系统发育推断的原始特征，以及软体动物作为一个整体。 古生物学家和无脊椎动物生物学家长期以来一直试图了解这个多样而迷人的群体的早期进化，了解这些动物是如何进化的将是他们极大的兴趣。此外，由于软体动物是神经生物学和寄生虫学领域的重要模型，这项工作的结果将直接为生物医学研究提供信息。

With an estimated 200,000 living species, Mollusca is the second most species-rich animal group. Many molluscs are economically, ecologically, or biomedically important. Additionally, the molluscan body plan is extremely varied, ranging from slugs to clams to giant squid. Because of molluscs' variation, diversity and abundance in the fossil record, there has been great interest in identifying the primitive condition of the group for nearly 200 years. The worm-like mollusc group called Aplacophora (Latin for "without a shell") has long been thought to be important to understanding early molluscan evolution. However, little is known about the evolutionary history (phylogeny) within this mostly deep-sea group. This research aims to reconstruct aplacophoran phylogeny using a combination of traditional and cutting-edge, next-generation DNA sequencing technologies. New morphological data will be collected using traditional microscopy and characters will be mapped onto the phylogeny to infer primitive features of Aplacophora as well as Mollusca as a whole. Understanding how these animals have evolved will be of great interest to paleontologists and invertebrate biologists who have long sought to understand the early evolution of this diverse and fascinating group. Moreover, as molluscs are important models in the fields of neurobiology and parasitology, the results of this work will directly inform biomedical research.