Dissertation Research: Morphological Variation and Macroevolution in the Ostracode genus Poseidonamicus

该项目探索了深海介形虫属Poseidonamicus在4000万年的历史中形态进化的方式。化石和现代标本将使用扫描电子显微镜进行研究。将使用获得的数字图像测量介形类甲壳的特征，并重建形态随时间变化的模式。从这些数据中，可以确定在种群中变化较大的特征是否也更有可能进化。这项研究将是第一个使用化石记录来确定变异模式是否影响长期进化变化方向的研究之一。虽然这些模式的进化重要性在几代人的过程中得到了很好的理解，但性状变异是否对长期进化有影响尚不清楚。几位研究人员提出，变异模式应该对进化过程产生偏见或限制，即使在很长一段时间内也是如此。这项提议的研究使用了一个具有丰富化石记录的分类单元的进化史来验证这些建议。

This project explores the manner in which morphology has evolved over the course of the 40 million year history of the deep-sea ostracode genus Poseidonamicus. Fossil and modern specimens will be studied using scanning electron microscopy. Features of the ostracode carapace will be measured using the digital images obtained, and patterns of morphological change over time will be reconstructed. From these data, it will be determined if features that are more variable within populations are also more likely to evolve. This study will be one of the first to use the fossil record to determine if patterns of variation affect the direction of long-term evolutionary change. While the evolutionary importance of these patterns is well understood over the course of a few generations, it is not clear whether trait variability matters for long-term evolution. Several researchers have suggested that patterns of variation should act to bias or constrain the course of evolution, even over long time stretches of time. The proposed research uses the evolutionary history of a taxon with a rich fossil record to test these suggestions.