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。根据宏观形态学对造礁珊瑚的传统分类办法表明，很少有群体的分布仅限于加勒比地区。 然而，最近的分子分析不同意传统的分类，并确定了一个以前未被承认的，完全是加勒比血统。这些发现表明，造礁珊瑚需要进行全面的重新评估。该合作项目将评估多样性，并澄清一组加勒比海珊瑚礁珊瑚与地中海和印度太平洋物种之间的分类和关系，始于约5500万年前。该项目将分析79个活物种和约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。将重建加勒比珊瑚礁的演变历史，并将评估过去的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。结果将通过同行审查的出版物和网上分类学数据库热带美洲新第三纪海洋生物群（NMITA）（http：//nmita.iowa.uiowa.edu/）和《生命百科全书》（http：//www.example.com）的电子来源进行传播。eol.org 项目结果将影响基于物种数量而不考虑进化独特性的保护优先事项。

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.