DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Bridging micro- and macroevolution in a top Neotropical predator

在化石记录中观察到的大规模宏观进化模式跨越了数百万年，这些模式背后的过程负责产生今天存在的生物有机体的多样性。在微观进化尺度上，自然选择的例子是常见的——无论是在自然界还是在实验室实验中——而且往往可以在几代之后观察到。在微观进化尺度上工作的一大优势是能够操纵生物体来理解观察模式背后的潜在机制和过程。然而，将微观进化过程的知识扩展到更深的时间尺度对于理解生物多样性的产生至关重要。阐明微观进化过程超越短时间尺度的背景有助于提高进化理论的清晰度，并加强对更广泛的非科学目标的应用。此外，了解复杂性状如何在时间尺度上遗传和遗传多样性可以对生物医学和农业应用产生重要影响。新热带军蚁是凋落叶群落的主要捕食者，其地理范围广，形态多样，受饮食生态的影响。该项目利用现有的基因组数据来展示新热带军蚁的宏观进化模式，以确定在中间时间尺度上物理形态的变化是否由于现有谱系的遗传和非遗传变异而发生。该项目探索宏观进化尺度上的物理形态变化是否可以归结为最基本的达尔文微观进化过程之一——遗传变异的自然选择。解决这些问题的数据将通过测量遗传学和物理形态的变异，以及使用一系列定量遗传学、基因组学和形态计量学分析方法来产生。这项工作将在菲尔德自然历史博物馆进行，这是公共科学教育、社区推广和指导的理想场所。

The large-scale, macroevolutionary patterns observed in the fossil record span millions of years, and the processes behind these patterns are responsible for generating the diversity in biological organisms that exist today. On the microevolutionary scale, examples of natural selection are common - both in nature and in laboratory experiments - and often can be observed over a few generations. A large advantage of working on the microevolutionary scale is the ability to manipulate organisms to understand the underlying mechanisms and processes behind observed patterns. However, extending the knowledge of microevolutionary processes to deeper time scales will be crucial to understanding the generation of biodiversity. Elucidating the contexts in which microevolutionary processes extend beyond short time scales aids both in advancing the clarity of evolutionary theory as well as strengthening application to broader non-scientific aims. Furthermore, understanding how complex traits are inherited across time scales and genetic diversity can have important impacts on biomedical and agricultural applications.Neotropical army ants are keystone predators of leaf litter communities with broad geographic ranges and diverse physical forms shaped by dietary ecology. This project leverages existing genomic data demonstrating the macroevolutionary pattern for Neotropical army ants to determine whether changes in physical form at intermediate time scales occur due to heritable and non-heritable variation in existing lineages. The project explores whether change in physical form at the macroevolutionary scale can be reduced to one of the most basic Darwinian microevolutionary processes - natural selection by heritable variation. The data to address these questions will be generated by measuring variation in genetics and physical form, and using a range of quantitative genetic, genomic, and morphometric analytical methods. This work will take place at the Field Museum of Natural History, an ideal location for public science education, community outreach, and mentorship.