Integrating Fossil Data into Likelihood-based Phylogenetic Analyses with Trilobites as a Model System

虽然已经开发了一套丰富的统计模型来使用DNA序列数据来研究进化，但许多生物学问题需要来自仅从化石记录中已知的生物的信息。在这个项目中，研究人员将建立模型，解释使用化石物种的特征数据所固有的偏见。这些模型将利用与两组三叶虫相关的异常丰富的化石记录进行测试和评估。现有的统计工具将得到扩展，以充分利用对化石年龄的估计。新方法将被整合到广泛使用的开源软件中。将开发虚拟实验室形式的在线教育材料并在网上分发。该项目将改进将化石物种的信息整合到生命进化树研究中所需的计算和统计机制。这将使研究人员能够以前所未有的精度研究物种灭绝和物种形成。了解这些过程对于理解地球生物群将如何应对当前的生物多样性危机至关重要。这些虚拟实验室将向初中生传授这些保存完好的生物体的数据，让我们了解进化过程。

While a rich set of statistical models have been developed to study evolution using DNA sequence data, many biological questions require information from organisms which are only known from the fossil record. In this project, the investigators will build models that account for biases inherent in using trait data from fossil species. The models will be tested and evaluated using the exceptionally rich fossil record associated with two groups of trilobites. Existing statistical tools will be extended to take full advantage of the estimates of the age of fossils. The new methods will be incorporated into widely used, open source software. Online educational materials in the form of virtual labs will be developed and distributed on the web.This project will improve the computational and statistical machinery required to integrate information from fossil species into studies of the evolutionary tree of life. This will allow researchers to study extinction and speciation with unprecedented precision. Understanding these processes is crucial to understanding how Earth's biota will respond to the current biodiversity crisis. The virtual labs will teach junior high school students what data from these beautifully preserved organisms teaches us about evolutionary processes.