Dissertation Research: Molecular mechanisms underlying striking craniofacial variation in New World Leaf-Nosed bats (Phyllostomidae)

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New-World leaf-nosed bats are one of the most successful and diverse lineages of mammals. They have evolved many distinct faces and each head shape serves a different purpose. For example, bats with flat, primate-like faces eat fruit and disperse seeds. Bats with long and narrow faces consume nectar and pollinate flowers. The New-World leaf-nosed bats are an ideal group with which to test an important aspect of mammal evolution: how their heads and faces changed in appearance over time. The researchers will examine the evolution and development of uniquely shaped bat faces that allow for distinct feeding strategies in natural populations of bats by integrating museum collections, fieldwork, gene expression studies, and experiments in the laboratory. The nature of this project will foster collaborations, networking, and training among scientists from different fields of biology across several institutions plus involvement and mentoring of undergraduates. Phyllostomid bats are fascinating and charismatic animals and this combined with a close tie to the museums and their collections and exhibits will likely help the outreach efforts for providing the broader impact of this study.Morphological diversity can be explained by examining evolutionary patterns in related species and characterizing developmental gene expression leading to the appearance of fundamental species-specific features. This project will: 1) quantify morphological transformations in the evolution of unique feeding strategies among phyllostomid bats, 2) compare embryonic gene expression between bats that differ in easily quantifiable characteristics, such as shortening and elongation of the cranium; and 3) evaluate mechanisms for diversification by connecting developmental change to evolutionary change. Anticipated significant developmental gene expression differences among bats will provide the foundation for testing hypotheses about the link between ontogeny and phylogeny. Specifically, gene expression changes may be experimentally replicated in bat and/or mouse embryos and the subsequent phenotypes will be examined by quantitative morphometrics to evaluate if evolutionary patterns are mimicked. This will indicate a causative connection between morphological and molecular evolutionary changes. The results of this research allow for a general understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying major diversity patterns among mammals