Collaborative Proposal: ARTS: Revisionary systematics of fossil and living Caribbean faviid and mussid reef corals (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia)

珊瑚礁是最多样化的海洋生态系统之一，日益受到气候变化、海洋酸化、过度捕捞和人为干扰的威胁。它们由18科800种造礁珊瑚组成。基于宏观形态学的造礁珊瑚的传统分类方案表明，少数群体的分布仅限于加勒比地区。然而，最近的分子分析与传统的分类不一致，并确定了一个以前未被认识的，专门的加勒比血统。这些发现表明造礁珊瑚需要完全重新评估。这个合作项目将评估多样性，并澄清一组来自地中海和印度太平洋的相关物种之间的分类和关系，这些物种始于约5500万年前。该项目将分析79种现存物种和约380种化石物种。分子和形态数据集将首次集成，并包括新的微观特征。将重建加勒比珊瑚礁的进化史，并评估过去的生物地理事件对当今生物多样性的影响。1名博士后、研究生和4名本科生将接受珊瑚系统学方面的培训。研究结果将通过同行评议的出版物和在线分类数据库、热带美洲新近纪海洋生物群（NMITA） （http://nmita.iowa.uiowa.edu/）和生命百科全书（http://eol.org）的电子资源公开传播。项目结果将影响以物种数量为基础而不考虑进化独特性的保护优先次序。

Coral reefs are among the most diverse marine ecosystems and are increasingly threatened by climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, and anthropogenic disturbance. They are constructed by 18 families and 800 species of reef-building coral. The traditional classification scheme of reef-building corals based on macromorphology indicate that few groups have distributions limited to the Caribbean. Recent molecular analyses, however, disagree with the traditional classification and have identified a previously unrecognized, exclusively Caribbean lineage. These findings indicate reef-building corals are in need of a complete re-evaluation. This collaborative project will assess the diversity and clarify the taxonomy and relationships between a group of Caribbean reef corals from related Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific species beginning ~55 million years ago. The project will analyze 79 living and ~380 fossil species. Molecular and morphological datasets will be integrated for the first time, and include novel microscopic features. The evolutionary history of Caribbean reefs will be reconstructed, and the effects of past biogeographic events on present-day biodiversity will be assessed. A postdoctoral scholar, graduate student, and four undergraduates will be trained in coral systematics. Results will be publically disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and electronic sources via an online taxonomic database, Neogene Marine Biota of Tropical America (NMITA) (http://nmita.iowa.uiowa.edu/), and the Encyclopedia of Life (http://eol.org). Project results will influence conservation priorities that are based on species numbers without consideration of evolutionary distinctiveness.