ARTS: Revisionary taxonomy and systematics of the Appalachian millipede genera Apheloria and Nannaria

我们对与我们共同生活在这个星球上的动物的基本知识是有限的，据估计，目前科学家们只知道地球上12%的物种。生物多样性为我们提供了重要的商品和服务，如水过滤、药物、分解、食物和纤维。如果没有通过分类学这门命名和描述物种的科学来了解生物多样性的基本知识，就不可能实现生物多样性给人类带来的好处。即使在美国，许多物种仍未被发现。例如，千足虫在森林中扮演着重要的分解者角色，它们分解腐烂的有机物质，并将其营养物质循环利用，供其他生物使用。然而，它们是美国最不为人所知的动物群体之一。这个项目的重点是千足虫群Apheloria和Nannaria，它们广泛分布在阿巴拉契亚的硬木森林中。在美国已知的有26种，然而，超过70种的阿菲洛里亚和南纳利亚正在等待科学命名，甚至在华盛顿市区的残余森林中还发现了一种新的南纳利亚。这凸显了我们对千足虫多样性认识的不足，该项目将通过使用多种数据类型来识别新物种，并更好地了解这些群体在阿巴拉契亚山脉的多样性和进化史。东部落叶森林是不可替代的生物多样性的巨大宝库，但栖息地的丧失威胁着它。许多阿巴拉契亚无脊椎动物是这一动物群中最多样化的组成部分，但它们对科学来说是未知的。在这个生态系统消失之前，理解和描述它的多样性是当务之急。本研究项目将通过实现以下目标来发现和描述美国千足虫物种多样性：(1)利用快速、技术驱动和准确的方法对Apheloria属和Nannaria属进行分类处理，克服美国千足虫研究的基本分类缺陷；(2)为物种描述和研究千足虫的伪装和颜色进化提供系统发育的系统基础；(3)通过面对面的外展计划和通过互联网的全球社区吸引地区公众，培养对有机生物学和自然历史的欣赏。这些拇指大小的千足虫是一个自然食腐动物协会的残余，历史上包括整个美国东部的本地蚯蚓。

Our basic knowledge of the animals with which we share our planet is limited, with only an estimated 12% of Earth's species currently known to scientists. Biodiversity provides us with important goods and services like water filtration, medicines, decomposition, food, and fiber. Without a basic knowledge of biodiversity through taxonomy, which is the science of naming and describing species, realizing the benefits of biodiversity to humanity is impossible. Even in the United States, many species remain undiscovered. For example, millipedes fulfill an important role as decomposers in forests by breaking down decaying organic matter and recycling its nutrients for other organisms to use. However, they are among the least known of any animal group in the U.S. This project focuses on the millipede groups Apheloria and Nannaria, which are widespread in Appalachian hardwood forests. Twenty-six species are known from the U.S., however, over 70 species of Apheloria and Nannaria await scientific naming and there is even a new species of Nannaria within the remnant forests of the D.C. metro area. This highlights the deficiencies in our understanding of millipede diversity, and this project, through the use of multiple data types, will identify new species and obtain better understanding of the diversity and evolutionary history of these groups in the Appalachian Mountains. Eastern deciduous forests are tremendous repositories of irreplaceable biodiversity, but habitat loss threatens it. Many Appalachian invertebrates, which compose the most diverse component of this fauna, are unknown to science. It is imperative to understand and describe the diversity of this ecosystem before it is lost. This research project will discover and describe millipede species diversity in the U.S. by accomplishing the following objectives: (1) overcome basic taxonomic deficiencies in U.S. millipede studies using a rapid, technology-driven, and accurate approach to taxonomic treatments of the genera Apheloria and Nannaria; (2) establish a phylogenetic systematic foundation for describing species and as an evolutionary context to investigate camouflage and color evolution in xystodesmid millipedes; and (3) foster an appreciation for organismal biology and natural history by engaging the regional public through in-person outreach programs and the global community through the internet. These thumb-sized millipedes are remaining vestiges of a natural detritivore guild that historically encompassed native earthworms throughout the eastern United States.