Phylogenetic Systematics and Biogeography of Sphaeromatid Isopods (Crustacea: Peracarida)

洛杉矶县自然历史博物馆的里贾纳·韦策博士和乔尔·马丁博士获得了一笔赠款，用于研究一个非常多样化和重要的甲壳类动物家族的关系。 这些甲壳类动物通常被称为pillbugs，sow bugs或rolly-pollies，科学上称为sphaeromatid等足类动物。 目前已知的球孢子虫有600多种，但我们仍然不知道球孢子虫物种之间的关系，以及它们是如何在地球上形成现在的分布的。 本计画将借由形态特徴与基因序列的分析，来定义它们的演化关系。 我们将对代表25个属的100个物种进行采样（世界球孢子虫物种多样性的1/6代表已知属多样性的近2/3）。 我们的跨类群取样计划将为这一群体提供一个坚实的系统发育框架。我们正生活在地球历史上最大的生物多样性危机之一。 在以前类似的危机中，大部分生物群灭绝。 为了使人类能够在目前的危机中生存下来，我们需要了解哪些生物正在受到影响，以及以何种方式受到影响。 不幸的是，对于大多数动物群体，我们无法确定物种及其进化起源。 因此，我们无法理解它们的多样性和丰富性是如何变化的。 这项研究的重点是一组动物是常见的，全球分布，因此可能会受到强烈的影响变化。

A grant has been awarded to Drs. Regina Wetzer and Joel Martin of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to study the relationships of a very diverse and important family of crustaceans. These crustaceans are commonly known as pillbugs, sow bugs, or rolly-pollies, and scientifically known as sphaeromatid isopods. Today more than 600 species are known, yet we still do not know how sphaeromatid species are related to one another and how they came into their present distribution on the planet. This project will define their evolutionary relationships using analysis of both morphological features and gene sequences. We will sample 100 species representing over 25 genera (1/6 of the world's sphaeromatid species diversity representing nearly 2/3 of the known generic diversity). Our plan of sampling across taxa will provide a solid phylogenetic framework for the group.We are living in one of the largest biodiversity crises in Earth history. In similar previous crises, large proportions of the biota went extinct. For humans to be able to survive the present crisis, we will need to understand which organisms are being affected and in what ways. Unfortunately, for most animal groups, we are unable to identify the species and their evolutionary origins. Therefore we cannot understand how their diversity and abundance is changing. This study focuses on a group of animals that is common and globally distributed, and thus likely to be strongly affected by change.