Collaborative Research: PurSUiT: Understanding the Neotropical Velvet Worms (Onychophora, Peripatidae, Neopatida), a Cretaceous Radiation of Terrestrial Panarthropods

天鹅绒蠕虫是一种古老的陆地无脊椎动物，其化石记录可以追溯到石炭纪。在其3亿年的历史中，它们在形态上基本保持不变，因此被认为是“活化石”。因此，天鹅绒蠕虫是研究动物如何在没有任何明显形态变化的情况下，在长时间的地质时期内成功地在不同环境和地点定居的理想模型。由于天鹅绒蠕虫很罕见，主要生活在偏远的森林中，因此对它们的研究相对较少。这项研究将集中在人们最不了解的天鹅绒蠕虫--新热带天鹅绒蠕虫。研究人员将记录和描述所有新发现的物种，评估它们的保护状况，并分析影响物种多样性和地理时间分布的进化过程。研究小组和几名学员将把尖端的分子方法与现代解剖学方法结合起来，以促进我们对这一未被研究群体的多样性和进化史的了解。一个100平方英尺的展览将为哈佛自然历史博物馆开发，以探索天鹅绒蠕虫的生物多样性、生物地理、生态学和进化。展览还将为相关的公共项目提供机会，包括讲座和K-12活动。通过使用高通量的序列数据和应用尖端的形态技术，将提供对新热带地区黑刺蜂目物种多样性的严格估计。这项研究将产生高质量的甲鱼基因组和一套UCE(超保守元素)探针，目标是大约1000个基因组位点，将应用于新鲜的和博物馆保存的标本。由此产生的进化群体将被用来检验与加勒比生物地理有关的假设，包括牙买加和波多黎各的特定辐射以及小安的列斯群岛的殖民。研究分类群的所有标本和遗传产品将保存在哈佛大学比较动物学博物馆。所有标本数据，包括图像、视频和基因组数据，将通过一个中央数据库链接到公开可用的标本记录。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Velvet worms (Onychophora) are ancient terrestrial invertebrates with a fossil record dating back to the Carboniferous. They have remained largely unchanged morphologically over their 300 million year history, and are thus considered “living fossils”. Velvet worms are therefore an ideal model to investigate how animals successfully colonize different environments and locations over long periods of geological time in the absence of any significant morphological change. Because velvet worms are rare and mainly inhabit remote forests, they are relatively poorly studied. This research will focus on the least-understood group of velvet worms, the Neotropical Peripatidae. The researchers will document and describe all newly discovered species, assess their conservation status, and analyze the evolutionary processes affecting species diversity and distribution through geological time. The research team and several trainees will combine cutting-edge molecular approaches with modern anatomical methods to advance our knowledge of the diversity and evolutionary history of this under-studied group. A 100-square-foot exhibit will be developed for the Harvard Museum of Natural History to explore the biodiversity, biogeography, ecology and evolution of velvet worms. The exhibit will also provide the opportunity for associated public programs, including lectures and K-12 activities. A rigorous estimate of Onychophora species diversity in the Neotropical region will be provided by using high throughput sequence data and by the application of cutting-edge morphological techniques. This research will produce high-quality genomes for onychophorans and a UCE (ultra-conserved elements) probe set targeting about 1,000 genomic loci that will be applied to fresh and museum-preserved specimens. The resulting evolutionary groupings will be used to test hypotheses related to Caribbean biogeography, including specific radiations in Jamaica and Puerto Rico and the colonization of the Lesser Antilles. All specimens and genetic products of the study taxa will be deposited in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. All specimen data, including images, videos, and genomic data, will be linked to publicly available specimen records through a centralized database.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.