RUI: Collaborative Research: The Opiliones of New Zealand: Revisionary synthesis and application of species delimitation for testing biogeographic hypotheses

新西兰为联合收割机提供了一个理想的环境，可将进化研究和空间生物分布研究结合起来。该群岛自大约8000万年前从冈瓦纳分离以来，一直与其他大陆隔离，随后在渐新世期间发生了剧烈的洪水，在南阿尔卑斯山形成期间发生了大规模的山体建设，以及在末次冰期最大期发生了气候变化，所有这些都在其生物群中留下了签名。这项研究旨在研究这些历史过程，同时对一组独特的古老起源的蛛形纲动物（Opiliones目-收获者或长腿爸爸）进行修订，因此通过其进化历史见证了这些地质变化。为此，研究小组将联合收割机经典分类学方法与尖端分子方法相结合，以了解这一研究不足的蛛形纲动物群体的多样性和进化历史。该研究还将有助于通过博物馆展览和广泛的举措在岛屿上传播进化研究，并培养能够将基因组学与生物多样性发现和分析联合收割机结合起来的下一代进化生物学家。这将构成新西兰蜘蛛目的第一次全面分类处理，这是一个物种组成独特的地区，也是由于许多自然栖息地退化而成为生物多样性保护优先事项的热点。美国三所大学的博士后研究人员和许多学生将接受广泛的培训，并积极参与研究工作。这项研究将集中在新西兰的5个原生科223个已命名的物种中。当代物种发现的方法可能会修改这个总数，预计这个总数将增加约20%。由于比较动物学博物馆现有的大量藏品，以及新西兰博物馆中大多数类型（用于描述和命名物种的原始标本）的可用性，本研究旨在解决这一动物群，并研究在不同时间尺度和前所未有的水平上塑造它的进化过程。新西兰的Opiliones物种多样性的严格估计将提供使用下一代序列数据和尖端形态学技术相结合，作为一个例子适用于世界其他地区。该研究将使用来自200个个体的转录组数据来生成三个南半球谱系的基因组，这将允许测试与古特有现象和古冈瓦纳分裂事件相关的地理学假设。选定的属，然后将被用来测试与后冈瓦纳地质历史，包括渐新世海侵，南阿尔卑斯山脉orthodium和末次冰期最大避难所，使用RAD测序NGS的方法，地理学的假设。最后，该研究旨在制作处理新西兰Opiliones所有物种的分类学专著，同时制定新的标准，将生物多样性数据（包括图像，视频和基因组数据）通过中央数据库MCZbase与标本记录联系起来，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

New Zealand offers an ideal setting in which to combine the study of evolution and biogeography - the distribution of living beings in space. The archipelago has been shaped by isolation from other landmasses since it split from Gondwana approximately 80 million years ago, followed by drastic flooding during the Oligocene, massive mountain building during the formation of the Southern Alps, and changing climate during the Last Glacial Maximum, all of which have left a signature on its biota. This research aims to study these historical processes while conducting a revision of a unique group of arachnids (order Opiliones - harvestmen or daddy long-legs) of ancient origin and that therefore have witnessed these geological changes through their evolutionary history. For this, the research team will combine classic taxonomic methods with cutting-edge molecular approaches to understand the diversity and evolutionary history of this under-studied group of arachnids. The research will also contribute to disseminating evolutionary research in islands through museum exhibits and broad initiatives and to train the next generation of evolutionary biologists able to combine genomics with biodiversity discovery and analysis. This will constitute the first comprehensive taxonomic treatment of an arachnid order in New Zealand, an area of unique species composition and a biodiversity hotspot for conservation priorities due to the degradation of many natural habitats. Postdoctoral researchers and and many students at three US institutions will receive extensive training and be heavily involved in the research effort. This research will focus on the order Opiliones represented in New Zealand by 223 named species in five native families. Contemporary approaches to species discovery may revise this total number, which is already expected to increase by approximately 20%. With the large existing collections at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the availability of most types (original specimens used to describe and name species) in New Zealand museums, this research aims to tackle this fauna and study the evolutionary processes that shaped it at different time-scales and at an unprecedented level. A rigorous estimate of the Opiliones species diversity in New Zealand will be provided by using a combination of next-generation sequence data and cutting edge morphological techniques, serving as an example applicable to other regions of the world. The research will use transcriptomic data from 200 individuals to generate phylogenies of three southern Hemisphere lineages that will allow testing of biogeographic hypotheses related to paleo-endemism and ancient Gondwanan breakup events. Selected genera will then be used to test biogeographic hypotheses related to post-Gondwanan geological history, including Oligocene marine transgressions, Southern Alps orogeny and Last Glacial Maximum refugia, using a RAD-sequencing NGS approach. Finally the research aims to produce taxonomic monographs treating all the species of New Zealand Opiliones while developing new standards for linking biodiversity data, including images, videos, and genomic data, to specimen records through the centralized database MCZbase, publicly available online.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.