Historical Inference of Biogeography Through Phylogenetic Reconstruction of Arid Asian Faunal Elements

9726064 Larson特有物种是那些只在很小的地区发现的物种。它们可能受到保护，特别是当它们的小栖息地被改变或受到威胁时。据认为，特有物种可能以几种方式之一形成。在其中一种机制中，一个物种的种群由于地质变化（如新山脉的形成，跨越开阔水域的陆桥）而与其他种群分离，这个孤立的种群成为一个新物种。从理论上讲，这种物种形成过程可以通过研究物种的历史（系统发育）和物种发生地区的地球历史来追踪。在这个项目中，Allan Larson， J. Robert Macey和Theodore Papenfuss将研究在一个或多个中亚沙漠中具有特有物种的选定鱼类、蜥蜴和蛇的系统发育关系。这些沙漠是在相对较近和剧烈的地球历史事件中形成的。研究人员将通过分析DNA序列来重建这些群体中物种的系统发育。然后将在沙漠地区地理历史的背景下解释系统发育，以确定形成一个地区的地质事件与该地区特有物种的出现之间是否存在直接关系。这项由沙漠地区周边国家的几位科学家和学生参与的研究，应该会让人们更广泛地了解特有物种是如何形成和持续存在的。

9726064 Larson Endemic species are those that are found only in very small areas. They may be of conservation concern especially if their small habitat areas are altered or come under threat. It is thought that endemic species may form in one of several ways. In one of these mechanisms, a population of a species becomes separated from other populations by geological changes (e.g. formation of new mountain ranges, land bridges across open water), and this isolated population becomes a new species. This species-forming process can be traced, in theory, by examining the history (phylogeny) of the species and the earth history of the region in which the species occur. In this project, Allan Larson, J. Robert Macey and Theodore Papenfuss will examine the phylogenetic relationships of selected groups of fish, lizards and snakes that have endemic species in one or more of the Central Asian deserts. These deserts have arisen through relatively recent and dramatic earth history events. The researchers will reconstruct the phylogeny of the species in these groups by analyzing DNA sequences. The phylogenies will then be interpreted in the context of the geographic history of the desert regions, to determine whether there is a direct relationship between the geological events forming a region and the appearance of an endemic species in that region. The research, which involves several scientists and students in countries encompassing the desert regions, should lead to a broader understanding of how endemic species are formed and persist.