Phylogenetic Relationships of West Indian EleutherodactylineFrogs

9615643树篱西印度群岛在世界热带群岛中是独一无二的，因为它由几个起源于古代的大岛屿--大安的列斯群岛组成。每个岛屿都拥有物种丰富的生物群，总的来说，这些岛屿提供了一个宝贵的“实验室”，科学家们可以在这里重复测试关于系统发生关系和具有生物意义的机制的假说。大安的列斯群岛一直是生态学、动物形态和行为以及历史生物地理学等众多经典研究的焦点。然而，我们对西印度群岛大多数动植物种群之间的系统发育关系的了解仍然很差。西印度群岛的一种关键动物是细指蛙(Eleutherodactylus属)。指龙是脊椎动物中最大的一个属，构成了西印度群岛的大部分两栖动物。几乎每一种龙都被限制在一个岛屿上，在其他地方找不到。在这个项目中，布莱尔·赫奇斯将检查两个线粒体编码的核糖体RNA基因和一个核编码基因(血清白蛋白)的DNA序列。经过比对的序列将经过严格的系统发育分析，由此推断的关系将受到严格的统计检验。由此产生的、得到充分支持的系统发育关系假说将被用来确定这些青蛙和无尾两栖动物的染色体变化、发声、生活史和物种形成的显著模式。系统发育假说也将被用来检验西印度群岛地区历史生物地理学的假说。

9615643 HEDGES The West Indies is unique among tropical archipelagos of the world in being composed of several, large islands of ancient origin, the Greater Antilles. Each island possesses a species-rich biota, and collectively, the islands provide a valuable "laboratory" where scientists can replicate tests of hypotheses regarding phylogenetic relationships and biologically-meaningful mechanisms. The islands of the Greater Antilles have been the focus of numerous, classical studies in ecology, animal morphology and behavior, and historical biogeography. Our understanding of phylogenetic relationships among most West Indian animal and plant groups, however, remains poor. A critical group of West Indian animals are leptodactylid frogs (genus Eleutherodactylus). Eleutherodactylus is the largest genus of vertebrate organisms, and comprise most of the amphibian fauna of the West Indies. Nearly every species of Eleutherodactylus is restricted to a single island and is found nowhere else. In this project, Blair Hedges will examine DNA sequences from two mitochondrially-encoded, ribosomal RNA genes and from one nuclear-encoded gene (serum albumin). Aligned sequences will be subjected to rigorous phylogenetic analysis, and the resulting relationships inferred will be subjected to rigorous statistical testing The resulting and well-supported hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships will then be used to determine significant patterns of divergence of chromosomal change, vocalization, life-history, and speciation in these frogs and in anurans in general. The phylogenetic hypotheses also will be used to test hypotheses of historical biogeography in the West Indian region.