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。它们是由18科800种造礁珊瑚组成的。传统的基于宏观形态的造礁珊瑚分类方案表明，很少有类群的分布局限于加勒比海。然而，最近的分子分析不同意传统的分类，并发现了一个以前未被识别的独有加勒比海血统。这些发现表明，建造珊瑚礁的珊瑚需要进行全面的重新评估。这一合作项目将评估多样性，并澄清一组加勒比海珊瑚礁之间的分类和关系，这些珊瑚礁来自大约5500万年前的相关地中海和印度-太平洋物种。该项目将分析79个活的物种和约380个化石物种。分子和形态数据集将首次整合，并包括新的微观特征。将重建加勒比海珊瑚礁的演化史，并评估过去的生物地理事件对当今生物多样性的影响。一名博士后学者、研究生和四名本科生将接受珊瑚系统学培训。结果将通过同行评议的出版物和电子来源通过在线分类数据库、热带美洲新近纪海洋生物群(http://nmita.iowa.uiowa.edu/)，)和生命百科全书(http://eol.org).)公开发布项目结果将影响基于物种数量的保护优先事项，而不考虑进化的特殊性。

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.