NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: The role of male-male competition in driving weapon diversification and speciation

这项行动资助了2018财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，使用生物收集的研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式利用生物收藏。该奖学金的研究部分调查了夸张的动物武器的演变。这类武器的例子包括鹿的分叉的鹿角、螃蟹的放大的爪子和甲虫的细长的角。在极端情况下，这些武器可以占个人体重的一半（例如，招潮蟹中的爪）并且可以是个体体长的两倍以上（例如，丑角甲虫的前腿）。此外，这些武器的大小和形状在密切相关的物种之间可能有很大差异。研究员将专门调查促进这种武器变化的因素。研究动物武器的进化可以提供以下见解：1）武器和防御结构之间的军备竞赛，2）植物多样性在推动动物多样性方面的重要性，以及3）促进新形态结构的其他因素。与该奖学金相关的更广泛的影响包括本科生指导，加强和扩大博物馆藏品的数字化，以及为公众制作科研视频。该研究员将利用博物馆标本的数据，结合系统发育比较方法，调查雄性之间的竞争在多大程度上促进了叶足虫（昆虫纲：半翅目：蝽科）的表型多样化和物种形成。具体而言，该研究员将测试多种武器多样化的假设，并确定在何种程度上男性之间的竞争影响物种形成和净多样化。由于在多样化的男性-男性竞争的作用在很大程度上被忽视，本研究将有助于澄清是否选择通过不同的访问配偶一般促进表型多样化和物种形成，或者这种模式是否是特定的女性选择。这项研究也将有助于博物馆的数字化工作，本科研究人员的指导，和研究员的专业发展。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2018, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. The research component of this fellowship investigates the evolution of exaggerated animal weapons. Examples of such weapons include the branching antlers of deer, the enlarged claws of crabs, and the elongated horns of beetles. At their extremes, these weapons can compose up to half of an individual's body mass (e.g., claws in fiddler crabs) and can be more than twice an individual's body length (e.g., front legs in harlequin beetles). Moreover, these weapons can dramatically differ in their size and shape among closely related species. The fellow will specifically investigate the factors that promote this weapon variation. Investigating the evolution of animal weapons can provide insights into: 1) arms-races between weapons and defensive structures, 2) the importance of plant diversity in driving animal diversity, and 3) other factors that promote new morphological structures. The broader impacts associated with this fellowship include undergraduate mentoring, enhancing and expanding the digitization of museum collections, and the production of scientific research videos for the public. The fellow will use data from museum specimens in combination with phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate the degree to which male-male competition promotes phenotypic diversification and speciation in leaf-footed bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Coreidae). Specifically, the fellow will test multiple weapon diversification hypotheses and determine the extent to which male-male competition influences speciation and net diversification. Because the role of male-male competition in diversification has been largely neglected, this research will help clarify whether selection via differential access to mates generally promotes phenotypic diversification and speciation or whether such patterns are specific to female choice. This research will also contribute to museum digitization efforts, mentoring of undergraduate researchers, and the fellow's professional development.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.