NSFGEO-NERC: The first actinopterygian adaptive radiation: integrating fossils, function and phylogeny to illuminate innovation in a post-extinction..

古代的大规模灭绝导致了许多物种的丧失，但也为幸存的群体提供了新的机会。对这些事件的研究对于理解当今生物多样性的起源以及了解其面临的环境变化威胁都是至关重要的。这项工作聚焦于大约3.6亿年前发生的危机和复苏的一个主要时期：泥盆纪/石炭纪的灭绝。这项研究将确定这一事件对鳍鱼早期历史的影响，鳍鱼是当今水生生态系统的关键组成部分，也是一种主要的商业资源。该项目将提供高中、本科生、研究生和研究生各级的培训，并为广大受众，包括那些在STEM领域代表性不足的人编写教育材料。宣传活动包括密歇根大学为高中生开设的一个模块，三个博物馆的项目，这些博物馆的年总参观人数超过50万人，以及供当地社区使用的资源。这项工作将研究泥盆纪/石炭纪灭绝(359 Ma)在导致放线鸟之间明显的多样性爆炸中所起的作用，为该群在显生宙其余部分的统治奠定基础。该项目将结合显微CT、功能解剖学、3D形态计量学、联合证据系统发育推断以及泥盆纪和石炭纪(419-299 Ma)放线鸟的进化比较方法。该项目组将：(I)量化离散的功能创新、生物力学和下颌骨形状，以测试大灭绝后功能和形态的多样性是否增加；(Ii)在贝叶斯框架内整合解剖学、地层学和分子数据，以制定早期放线鸟关系的包容性假说，并测试有关进化分歧的时间和跨越灭绝边界的生存模式的假说；以及(Iii)在比较框架内将功能和形态数据与新的系统发育假说相结合，以测试与泥盆纪/石炭纪大灭绝相关的放线鸟之间进化速度和模式的变化。

Ancient mass extinctions resulted in the loss of many species but also provided new opportunities for surviving groups. Study of these events is central to both understanding the origin of today's biological diversity as well as contextualizing the threats it faces from environmental change. This work focuses on a major interval of crisis and recovery that took place around 360 million years ago: the Devonian/Carboniferous extinction. This study will determine the impact of this event on the early history of ray-finned fishes, key components of today's aquatic ecosystems and a major commercial resource. The project will provide training at high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels, and develop educational materials for wide audiences, including those underrepresented in STEM fields. Outreach includes a module for high-school students at the University of Michigan, programs at three museums with a combined annual attendance of greater than 500,000, and resources for use in local communities. This work will examine the role of the Devonian/Carboniferous extinction (359 Ma) in precipitating an apparent explosion of diversity among actinopterygians, setting the stage for the group's dominance throughout the remainder of the Phanerozoic. The project will combine microCT, functional anatomy, 3D morphometrics, combined-evidence phylogenetic inference, and evolutionary comparative methods to Devonian and Carboniferous (419-299 Ma) actinopterygians. The project team will: (i) quantify discrete functional innovations, biomechanics, and shape for mandibles to test for increased functional and morphological diversity following a mass extinction; (ii) integrate anatomical, stratigraphic, and molecular data in a Bayesian framework to develop an inclusive hypothesis of early actinopterygian relationships and test hypotheses about the timing of evolutionary divergences and patterns of survival across the extinction boundary; and (iii) combine functional and morphological data with new phylogenetic hypotheses within a comparative framework in to test for shifts in evolutionary rate and mode among actinopterygians associated with the Devonian/Carboniferous extinction.