Collaborative Proposal: Millipede Systematics: Developing phylogenomic, classification, and taxonomic resources for the future

节肢动物纲双足类(千足纲)包括大约12,000个已描述的物种，几乎分布在世界各地的每个生物群中。这个群体有着深厚的进化史，其中包括一些最早的陆地动物，可以追溯到4亿多年前的中志留世。尽管它们作为森林中的分解者具有重要的生态意义，拥有丰富的多样性(估计有20,000-80,000个物种)，而且由于它们大量的国防分泌物而作为化学勇士而闻名，但可悲的是，对它的研究还很少。研究小组将使用基于下一代序列数据的现代系统基因组学框架，修改目前的序级和科级分类系统，然后利用这些数据来探索化学防御分泌物及其前体的进化。该项目力求通过编制千足虫种群的形态地图集、制作首个有插图的千足虫家族检索表以及出版第一个完整的千足虫物种目录，大大提高千足虫多样性的可及性。该项目团队将开发一个强大的协作研究和培训网络，并将与世界各地的合作者建立伙伴关系。千足虫系统学、形态学和基因组学方面的培训将包括广泛的个人，从高中生和教师、本科研究人员、博士后实习生，到参加在美国东南部和泰国曼谷举行的有组织的培训研讨会的学生。

The arthropod class Diplopoda (the millipedes) comprises ~12,000 described species that are distributed worldwide in nearly every biome. The group has a deep evolutionary history that includes some of the very first terrestrial animals, dating from the mid-Silurian over 400 million years ago. Despite their ecological importance as decomposers in forests, wealth of diversity (estimated 20,000-80,000 species), and prominence as chemical warriors owing to their vast array of defense secretions, the group is woefully understudied. The research team will revise the current ordinal and family-level classification systems using a modern phylogenomic framework based on next generation sequence data and then employ these data to explore the evolution of chemical defense secretions and their precursors. This project seeks to greatly enhance the accessibility of millipede diversity through the development of a morphological atlas for the group, production of the first illustrated key to millipede families, and publication of the first complete millipede species catalog. The project team will develop a strong collaborative research and training network and will partner with collaborators worldwide. Training in millipede systematics, morphology, and genomics will include a broad range of individuals from high school students and teachers, undergraduate researchers, a postdoctoral trainee, to students participating in organized training workshops, to be held in the Southeastern US and in Bangkok, Thailand.