Collaborative Research: Diversification in the Deep-Sea and the Evolution of Fangs, Bioluminescence, Hermaphroditism, and Marine Habitat Transitions

合作研究：深海多样化和尖牙的进化、生物发光、雌雄同体和海洋栖息地转变

• 批准号: 1258141
• 负责人: Matthew Davis
• 金额: $ 42.5万
• 依托单位: University of Kansas Center for Research Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-10-01 至 2015-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1258141&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Diversification; Deep; Sea

All animals that have evolved in the deep sea are under similar selective pressures as a result of the environment (e.g., little to no sunlight, high atmospheric pressure). This extreme habitat has led to massive convergence in animal morphology and behavior across deep-sea organisms, including bioluminescence, enlarged fangs and gaping mouths. In this project, the investigators will build phylogenies, model the evolution of deep-sea adaptations and uncover the links between these adaptations and diversification rates in three major clades of fishes. This study integrates phylogenetic relationships based on genetic and morphological data, comparative morphology, ecology, and evolutionary biology in an effort to broaden our understanding of fishes that have evolved, thrived, and diversified in the deep sea. This research will increase our understanding of a diverse array of deep-sea evolutionary adaptations, including bioluminescent structures that are used for predation, defense, species recognition, and sexual selection. These novel morphologies and behaviors have never before been studied within the context of a robust evolutionary framework based on molecular and morphological data. The resulting hypotheses will include a temporal component based on the fossil record that will allow us to explore, for the first time, whether these specializations are having potential effects on speciation in the deep sea. This project will support the training of postdoctoral, graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in marine biology, systematics, and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas and American Museum of Natural History. Findings from this work will continue to augment a new bioluminescence exhibit created and curated by PI Sparks and co-PI Smith (Creatures of Light).

由于环境，所有在深海中进化的动物都在相似的选择压力下（例如，很少或没有阳光，高大气压）。这种极端的栖息地导致了深海生物的动物形态和行为的大量收敛，包括生物发光，牙齿扩大和嘴巴张开。在该项目中，研究人员将建立系统发育，对深海适应的演变进行建模，并发现这些适应性和在三个主要鱼类中的多样化速率之间的联系。这项研究将基于遗传和形态学数据，比较形态，生态学和进化生物学的系统发育关系整合，以扩大我们对在深海进化，繁荣和多样化的鱼类的理解。这项研究将增加我们对各种深海进化适应的理解，包括用于捕食，防御，物种识别和性选择的生物发光结构。这些新型的形态和行为从未在基于分子和形态学数据的强大进化框架的背景下进行研究。最终的假设将包括基于化石记录的时间成分，这将使我们能够首次探索这些专业知识是否会对深海的形成产生潜在影响。该项目将支持堪萨斯大学和美国自然历史博物馆的海洋生物学，系统学和进化生物学的博士后，研究生，本科生和高中生的培训。这项工作的发现将继续增强由Pi Sparks和Co-Pi Smith（光的生物）创建和策划的新的生物发光展览。