Fossil history and phylogeny of tenrecs (Tenrecidae) and golden moles (Chrysochloridae), both insectivoran-grade placental mammals endemic to Africa and Madagaskar

该项目的目标是测试两个非洲哺乳动物群体--Tenrecs(Tenresidae)和Golden Moles(金龟科)--在最近发现的一类非洲特有哺乳动物--无毛目哺乳动物--中的系统发育问题。重点将放在每一组的解剖多样性和化石历史上。活的和化石的分类群的形态数据将从整个欧洲和非洲的博物馆中收集，从而为这两个群体的进化提供一个具有历史意义的假说。结合正在进行的非洲食虫动物DNA序列采样工作，将使用新的数据来检验三个假说：1)Tenrecs和金鼹鼠包括一个与Afotheria内象鼠相邻的分支；2)化石Tenrecs和金鼹鼠属于现存群体所显示的形态多样性；以及3)发生了一次Tenrecs的单一殖民事件，导致岛上的类群相对于它们现存的和化石的大陆近亲来说是单系的。

The goal of this project is to test phylogenetic questions of two African mammal groups, tenrecs (Tenrecidae) and golden moles (Chrysochloridae), within a recently identified clade of endemic African mammals, known as the Afrotheria. The focus will be on the anatomical diversity and fossil history of each group. Morphological data for living and fossil taxa will be collected from museums throughout Europe and Africa, thereby providing a historically-informed hypothesis of the evolution of both groups. In combination with ongoing work sampling DNA sequences for Afican insectivorans, new data will be used to test three hypotheses: 1) tenrecs and golden moles comprise a clade adjacent to elephant shrews within Afrotheria; 2) fossil tenrecs and golden moles fall within the morphological diversity shown by extant groups; and 3) a single colonization event by tenrecs of Madagascar occurred, resulting in the monophyly of the island bound taxa relative to their living and fossil mainland relatives.