NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Morphology, kinematics and evolution of Eunicidan annelid jaws

这项行动资助了2020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。有颚环节动物是一个多样而古老的类群，包括著名的“沙击”蠕虫，在海洋中扮演着捕食者、猎物和食腐动物的重要角色。这些蠕虫的分类是基于它们的颌骨结构。然而，具有相似饮食的不相关动物的颌骨和牙齿结构通常相似。这个项目的目标是确定是否饮食或亲缘关系更好地预测环节动物的颌骨结构。该项目使用DNA测序和CT扫描博物馆标本来追踪环节动物颌骨形状随时间的演变。将使用活蠕虫中颌运动的视频观察来研究颌功能。这项研究通过将下颌形状与未充分研究的动物群体的功能联系起来来推进科学知识，并将为预测现存和灭绝的海洋群落的生态系统功能提供基础。在此项目期间生成的视频和3D模型将作为K-12和大学教师的教育资源在线发布。这些资源也将包括在海豚岛海洋实验室河口的海洋蠕虫的公开展览，并在外联events.This项目整合的形态和功能的研究在系统发育的背景下，以测试具体的假设形态收敛和功能的eunicidan（环节动物）颌骨结构。一个有针对性的外显子捕获的方法将被用来产生一个新的Eunicida广泛的分类群和博物馆标本的基因采样的基因发生。将使用microCT对样本的颌骨和相关肌肉组织进行成像。形态特征将被测量并从3D重建中编码。系统发育比较方法将被用来重建祖先的状态，并确定形态收敛。颌骨形态将通过观察活的代表颌骨元素的运动与功能相关。结合形态学与运动学将提供一个更好的理解的功能基础上的形态收敛环节动物的颌骨结构。评估颌骨结构的同源性也将提供一个基础，重新评估的效用形态特征用于Eunicidan系统学。这项研究将在多芬岛海洋实验室进行，并利用佛罗里达自然历史博物馆的大量标本收藏和成像资源。该项目将提供遗传学，形态学，运动学和行为学方面的跨学科培训，并扩大研究员作为博物馆科学家进行综合收藏研究的技能。该项目还将包括无脊椎动物运动学研究方面的本科生培训。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Jawed annelids, a diverse and ancient group which includes the famous “sand-striker” worm, play important roles as predators, prey, and scavengers in the ocean. The classification of these worms is based on their jaw structures. However, jaw and tooth structures are often similar in unrelated animals with similar diets. The goal of this project is to determine whether diet or relatedness better predicts jaw structure in annelids. The project uses DNA sequencing and CT scanning of museum specimens to trace the evolution of jaw shape in annelids over time. Jaw function will be studied using video observations of jaw motion in live worms. This research advances scientific knowledge by linking jaw shape with function in an understudied group of animals and will provide a basis for predicting ecosystem function in both living and extinct marine communities. The videos and 3D models generated during this project will be published online as educational resources for K-12 and university instructors. These resources will also be included in a public exhibit on marine worms at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Estuarium, and at outreach events.This project integrates studies of morphology and function in a phylogenetic context to test specific hypotheses concerning morphological convergence and function in eunicidan (Annelida) jaw structures. A targeted exon capture approach will be used to generate a new phylogeny of Eunicida with broad taxon and gene sampling from museum specimens. The jaw elements and associated musculature of the specimens will be imaged using microCT. Morphological characters will be measured and coded from 3D reconstructions. Phylogenetic comparative methods will be used to reconstruct ancestral states and identify morphological convergences. Jaw morphology will be related to function through observation of the movements of jaw elements in living representatives. Integrating morphology with kinematics will provide a better understanding of the functional basis of morphological convergences in annelid jaw structures. Assessing the homology of jaw structures will also provide a basis for re-evaluating the utility of morphological characters used in Eunicidan systematics. This research will be conducted at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and utilizes the extensive specimen collections and imaging resources at the Florida Museum of Natural History. This project will provide interdisciplinary training in phylogenetics, morphology, kinematics, and behavior and broaden the fellow's skill set for conducting integrative collections-based research as a museum scientist. The project will also include undergraduate training in kinematic research on invertebrates.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.