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

本行动资助美国国家科学基金会2018年度生物学博士后研究奖学金，利用生物馆藏进行研究。该奖学金支持研究和培训将以创新的方式利用生物收集的研究员。该奖学金的研究部分调查了夸张的动物武器的进化。这种武器的例子包括鹿的分叉角，螃蟹的大爪子和甲虫的长角。在极端情况下，这些武器可以占到个体体重的一半（例如招潮蟹的爪子），可以超过个体体长的两倍（例如丑角甲虫的前腿）。此外，这些武器的大小和形状在近亲物种之间可能存在巨大差异。该研究员将专门研究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方面的见解：1)武器与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中的重要性；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，以及为公众制作科学研究视频。该研究员将使用来自博物馆标本的数据，结合系统发育比较方法，研究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：蠓科）的表型多样化和物种形成。具体来说，研究员将测试多种武器多样化假设，并确定雄性竞争对物种形成和净多样化的影响程度。由于雄性竞争在多样化中的作用在很大程度上被忽视了，这项研究将有助于澄清通过对配偶的不同选择是否通常促进表型多样化和物种形成，或者这种模式是否仅适用于雌性选择。这项研究也将有助于博物馆的数字化工作，指导本科生研究人员，以及研究员的专业发展。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。

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.