Revision and Phylogeographic Analysis of Pacific Island Succineid Land Snails

夏威夷大学的罗伯特·H·考伊博士获得了一项资助，用于研究太平洋岛上一大类陆生蜗牛的进化生物学。该项目将对大约80个物种进行系统修订，这些物种只出现在太平洋岛屿上，目前正因栖息地破坏和外来物种的掠夺而消失。此外，该项目将调查物种的进化和地理起源，以及随着进化时间的推移，它们殖民这些无数岛屿的路线。研究人员将既使用传统的分析不同种类蜗牛的解剖差异，也使用现代DNA测序方法和分析方法。已知的蜗牛种类比除昆虫以外的任何其他陆地动物种类都多。因此，了解生物多样性的这一重要组成部分的生物学在进化生物学、生态学和保护方面具有基本意义。就陆地面积而言，陆地蜗牛的多样性远不及热带/亚热带太平洋。尽管以前的研究调查了太平洋岛屿动植物的起源和多样性，主要是夏威夷，但几乎没有任何群体的工作既涉及它们的地理起源，也涉及它们在整个太平洋的殖民路线。因此，该项目有可能极大地促进对太平洋生物多样性的了解，并创建其总体起源和进化多样化的模式。此外，研究生和本科生将接受从DNA测序到现代博物馆策展实践的技术培训，从而将研究与广泛的培训经验相结合。本科生很可能来自少数族裔社区。此外，通过让夏威夷大学两个校区的教职员工和学生参与，该项目将加强双方的研究基础，并促进他们之间有价值的合作。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Robert H. Cowie of the University of Hawaii to work on the evolutionary biology of a major group of Pacific island land snails. The project will undertake a systematic revision of about 80 species that occur only on the islands of the Pacific and that are currently disappearing in the wake of habitat destruction and the depredations of alien species. In addition, the project will investigate the evolutionary and geographic origins of the species and the routes via which, over evolutionary time, they have colonized these myriad islands. The investigators will use both traditional analysis of anatomical variation among the different species of snails as well as modern DNA sequencing approaches and analytical methodologies.There are more known species of snails than of any other group of land animals except insects. Understanding the biology of this important component of biodiversity is therefore of basic significance in evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation. Nowhere, in relation to land area does land snail diversity reach that in the tropical/subtropical Pacific. Although previous studies have investigated the origins and diversification of Pacific island plants and animals, primarily of Hawaii, almost no work on any group has addressed both their geographic origins and their routes of colonization throughout the Pacific. The project therefore has the potential to dramatically advance understanding of Pacific biodiversity and create a model of its overall origins and evolutionary diversification. In addition, graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in techniques ranging from DNA sequencing to modern museum curatorial practices, thereby integrating research with a broad training experience. The undergraduates will likely be from minority community groups. Furthermore, by involving faculty and students from two University of Hawaii campuses, the project will enhance the research base of both and foster valuable collaboration between them.