OPUS: Synthesizing 30 years of research on 200 million years of evolutionary history on the "higher" flies (Brachyceran Diptera)

OPUS：综合 30 年对“高等”果蝇（短翅目双翅目）2 亿年进化史的研究

• 批准号: 1556502
• 负责人: David Grimaldi
• 金额: $ 17.86万
• 依托单位: American Museum Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-03-15 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1556502&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OPUS; Synthesizing; 30; years; research

This project will synthesize more than 30 years of research on the evolutionary history and classification of the "higher" flies, including robber flies, bee flies, flower flies, fruit flies, carrion flies, bot flies, and tsetse flies, many of which are economically and ecologically important. It will integrate exciting new fossil discoveries as well as anatomical and new genomic data. A unique feature of the fossil record for these flies is that many diverse higher flies are preserved with life-like fidelity in fossilized resin (amber) that is from 17 to 130 million years old. This profoundly enhances the accuracy with which the timing and amount of evolutionary change can be measured. With these data, this project can address whether higher flies are diverse because their speciation is so rapid, or because their extinction rate is low, or both. It also can address whether higher flies were affected by mass extinctions that occurred 66 million years ago, when most dinosaurs became extinct, and whether the largest group of higher flies, which represents the largest radiation of all life in the past 66 million years, also are the fastest evolving. Besides these broad questions, this study will also address the rate of evolution of fruit flies (Drosophila), based on several hundred specimens in amber. Since fruit flies are a model system for genetic and genomic research, this will provide a unique context for research in genomics and evolution. The project also will provide research training and experience for high school students and develop a museum exhibit on the evolution of flies. This project will construct a comprehensive evolutionary framework through the analysis, study, and interpretation of over 30 years of accumulated data on the phylogeny, biogeography, and general evolution of the "higher" flies (Brachyceran Diptera). It will build upon the principal investigator's experience from hundreds dissections of exemplar living species, thousands of measurements and digital images of living and fossil species, and writing descriptions for over 70 fossil species to first assemble a data matrix of 592 morphological characters from 526 taxa, including both fossil and extant species. This morphological and molecular data will be used to compile a monograph on the morphology, fossil record, and phylogeny of the Brachycera, emphasizing the Mesozoic Era. This project also will produce a detailed descriptive study on diverse new Drosophilidae preserved in amber (42-17 million years ago) and two papers that address divergence times of lineages in lower Brachycera and in the Ephydroidea, especially Drosophila, analyzed with morphological and genomic data. Outreach will include mentoring high school student interns in the amber laboratory and developing a traveling or permanent exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, "Flies."

该项目将综合30多年来对“高等”蝇类的进化历史和分类的研究，包括强盗蝇、蜜蜂蝇、花蝇、果蝇、腐尸蝇、机器人蝇和采采蝇，其中许多在经济和生态上具有重要意义。 它将整合令人兴奋的新化石发现以及解剖学和新的基因组数据。这些苍蝇化石记录的一个独特特征是，许多不同的高等苍蝇被逼真地保存在1700万至1.3亿年前的琥珀树脂（琥珀）中。 这极大地提高了测量进化变化的时间和数量的准确性。有了这些数据，该项目可以解决是否更高的苍蝇是多样的，因为他们的物种形成是如此之快，或因为他们的灭绝率很低，或两者兼而有之。 它还可以解决更高的苍蝇是否受到6600万年前发生的大规模灭绝的影响，当时大多数恐龙灭绝，以及最大的一群更高的苍蝇，代表了过去6600万年来所有生命中最大的辐射，也是进化最快的。除了这些广泛的问题，这项研究还将解决果蝇（果蝇）的进化速度，基于琥珀中的数百个标本。 由于果蝇是遗传和基因组研究的模型系统，这将为基因组学和进化研究提供一个独特的背景。该项目还将为高中生提供研究培训和经验，并开发一个关于苍蝇进化的博物馆展览。该项目将通过分析、研究和解释30多年来积累的关于“高等”蝇类（双翅目短角类）的生殖、地理和一般进化的数据，构建一个全面的进化框架。 它将建立在首席研究员的经验，从数百个解剖的范例活物种，成千上万的测量和数字图像的活物种和化石物种，并书面描述超过70个化石物种，首先组装一个数据矩阵的592个形态特征从526个分类群，包括化石和现存物种。这些形态学和分子生物学的数据将被用来编纂一本关于短角类的形态学、化石记录和发育史的专著，重点放在中生代。 该项目还将对保存在琥珀中的各种新果蝇科（4200 - 1700万年前）进行详细的描述性研究，并发表两篇论文，讨论利用形态学和基因组数据分析的较低Brachycera和Ephydroidea（特别是果蝇）谱系的分歧时间。 推广活动将包括指导琥珀实验室的高中生实习生，并在美国自然历史博物馆举办一个巡回或永久性的展览“苍蝇”。"