Collaborative Research: Epidermal gland evolution and the origins of structural and chemical signaling diversity

为了控制基本的行为相互作用，如个体识别、社会等级的建立、领土划分和两性间选择，动物的交流系统已经进化出了一套异常多样的形态和生理结构和信号。视觉、听觉和化学信号模式允许复杂的行为展示，然而，在包括爬行动物在内的大多数动物生命树中，人们对通信系统的起源和进化知之甚少。本项目旨在通过研究蜥蜴的新型通讯机制（表皮腺）的起源和进化，以及这些系统如何受到生态和环境参数的影响，来填补这一重要空白。这项研究的结果将为预测人类引起的环境变化如何影响化学信号提供一个框架。该项目通过扩大美国的自然历史收藏和遗传资源，建立用于比较研究的大型数据集，开发以化学通讯为重点的新教材，并通过在伯克自然历史和文化博物馆举办新的公共展览，直接为科学教育和公众宣传做出贡献，从而与美国国家科学基金会在科学和社会方面的优先事项相一致。在蜥蜴和蛇中，化学信号越来越被认为是交流的一个重要组成部分，但却没有得到充分的重视。该项目将使用综合的方法和工具，包括先进的成像、生物化学、系统发育和基因表达，研究来自北美、南美和非洲的不同蜥蜴群体的新型表皮腺体的进化，这些表皮腺体在调节几种蜥蜴群体的行为相互作用中起着至关重要的作用。本项目将利用在研究过程中收集的不同数据类型来验证几个假设，包括：(1)物种之间的化学差异与环境参数和栖息地和微栖息地的结构复杂性有关；(2)在整个蜥蜴生命树中，表皮腺体的存在或缺失以及化学信号的主要转变，追踪了栖息地/微栖息地的变化（如温度、湿度和太阳辐射偏好的变化）；(3)蜥蜴生命树中表皮腺的独立起源具有共同的遗传起源，这为这些结构具有共同的祖先提供了强有力的证据。通过使用蜥蜴表皮腺作为我们的研究系统，该项目将为新颖性的进化以及那些在交流和行为中起重要作用的结构提供见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Animal communication systems have evolved an extraordinarily varied set of morphological and physiological structures and signals in order to control essential behavioral interactions, such as individual recognition, establishment of social hierarchies, territoriality, and intersexual selection. Visual, acoustic, and chemical signaling modes allow for complex repertoires of behavioral displays, yet little is known of how communication systems originated and evolved in most species in the animal tree of life, including reptiles. This project aims to fill this important gap by investigating the origin and evolution of novel communication mechanisms (epidermal glands) in lizards and how such systems are shaped by ecological and environmental parameters. Results from this research will provide a framework for predicting how human-induced environmental changes could impact chemical signaling. This project converges with NSF priorities for both science and society by expanding natural history collections and genetic resources in the U.S., building large data sets for comparative studies, developing new teaching materials focused on chemical communication, and directly contributing to scientific education and public outreach with the development of a new public exhibit at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.Among lizards and snakes, chemical signaling has been increasingly acknowledged as a critical, yet underappreciated, component of communication. This project will use integrative methods and tools, including advanced imaging, biochemistry, phylogenetics, and gene expression across diverse lizard groups from North America, South America, and Africa to investigate the evolution of novel epidermal glands that are crucial in mediating behavioral interactions on several groups of lizards. This project will test several hypotheses with the diverse datatypes collected over the course of the research, including (1) chemical differences between species correlate with environmental parameters and structural complexity of the habitats and microhabitats; (2), major transitions in the presence or absence of epidermal glands and chemical signals across the lizard tree of life track shifts in habitat/microhabitat (such as changes in temperature, humidity, and solar radiation preferences); (3) independent origins of epidermal glands across the lizard tree of life share a common genetic origin, providing strong evidence that such structures share deep and common ancestry. By using lizard epidermal glands as our study system, this project will provide insight into the evolution of novelty and those structures that play important roles in communication and behavior.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.