PEET: Phylogeny and Historical Ecology of Mite Parasites of Vertebrates (ACARI: Dermanyssoidea and Sarcoptoidea)

蜱虫、蜱虫和螨虫是除昆虫之外种类最多的动物。尽管其种类繁多，但对蜱虫系统分类学、进化和生态学的研究受到活跃的分类专家数量下降的阻碍。本研究的重点是与哺乳动物相关的寄生螨的两个主要谱系：皮螨总纲和肉螨总纲。这些超过1000种的类群从未在超属水平上进行过系统发育分析。实地研究将集中在马达加斯加和菲律宾鲜为人知的动物群上。将为这些岛屿地区的几个科编写分类学专著，包括许多新物种的描述，整合形态学和分子证据的系统发育假设，以及全世界所有真皮和类肢动物类群的哺乳动物宿主目录。这项研究将对广泛的生物学家产生直接和长期的好处。它将为医学、兽医、生态和进化方面的大量螨虫提供一个预测的、概念性的框架，并为鉴定和宿主信息提供一个易于获取的来源。集中研究马达加斯加和菲律宾的濒危动物也可能有助于保护生物学家和流行病学家了解本地和引进的宿主-寄生虫系统的相互作用及其在这些快速变化的生态系统中的作用。学生将发展形态学和分子方法系统分析的技能和知识。总共有3名研究生和大量本科生将接受寄生螨系统学、生态学和进化方面的培训。研究结果将以电子方式提供。

The Acari, ticks and mites, includes the greatest diversity of animals outside of the insects. In spite of its great diversity, the study of acarine systematics, evolution, and ecology is hampered by a declining number of active taxonomic specialists. This study focuses on two major lineages of parasitic mites associated with mammals: Dermanyssoidea and Sarcoptoidea. These groups, with more than 1,000 species, have never been analyzed phylogenetically at the suprageneric level. Field studies will concentrate on poorly known faunas in Madagascar and the Philippines. Taxonomic monographs will be produced for several families for these insular areas including descriptions of many new species, phylogenetic hypotheses integrating morphological and molecular evidence, and catalogs of mammalian hosts for all dermanyssoid and sarcoptoid groups worldwide.This research will have immediate and longterm benefits to a wide range of biologists. It will provide a predictive, conceptual framework for a large number of mites of medical, veterinary, ecological, and evolutionary interest as well as an easily accessible source for identification and host information. Concentration on the endangered faunas of Madagascar and the Philippines may also aid conservation biologists and epidemiologists in understanding the interactions of native and introduced host-parasite systems and their roles in these rapidly changing ecosystems. Students will develop skills and knowledge in both morphological and molecular methods of systematic analysis. In all, three graduate students and a great number of undergraduate students will be trained in the systematics, ecology, and evolution of parasitic mites. Results of the research will be made accessible electronically.