Molecular and Morphological Phylogenetics of Hawaiian Songbird Radiations

适应性辐射是许多物种从单个祖先物种进化而来的不同表型。这项研究将确定夏威夷鸣禽的四个谱系的进化关系，其中包括著名的夏威夷蜜鸟的适应性辐射。由于夏威夷的鸟类已经遭受了人类造成的重大灭绝，这项研究依赖于对博物馆标本和灭绝鸟类化石骨骼的古代DNA分析。这项研究将估计DNA序列进化的速度，并确定夏威夷群岛岛屿之间物种分化的模式和原因。还将进行传统的形态分析，以深入了解自适应辐射过程中形态变化的速率和模式。自适应辐射是进化生物学的重要组成部分，夏威夷蜂鸟辐射一直是这一过程的无处不在的教科书例子。通过将DNA发散度与夏威夷群岛的年龄进行比较来计算的DNA序列进化速率，将对许多DNA序列进化速率未知的进化史研究有用。这项研究将对包括夏威夷学生在内的学生进行研究方法培训。结果将被纳入动物园展览和其他教育材料中，以提供进化事件的后果和时间框架的五颜六色的说明。

Adaptive radiation is the evolution of many species with differing phenotypes from a single ancestral species. This study will determine the evolutionary relationships of four lineages of Hawaiian songbirds, including the famous adaptive radiation of Hawaiian honeycreepers. Because the Hawaiian avifauna has suffered a major, human-caused extinction, this research relies on ancient DNA analysis of museum specimens and fossil bones of extinct birds. The study will estimate rates of DNA sequence evolution, and identify patterns and causes of species divergence among the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. Traditional morphological analyses will also be performed, allowing insights into the rates and patterns of morphological change during adaptive radiation.Adaptive radiations are an important component of evolutionary biology and the Hawaiian honeycreeper radiation has been an omnipresent textbook example of this process. The rates of DNA sequence evolution that will be calculated by comparison of DNA divergence with the ages of the Hawaiian Islands will be of use to many studies of evolutionary history for which rates of DNA sequence evolution are unknown. The study will train students, including Hawaiian ones, in research methods. Results will be incorporated into a zoo exhibit and other educational materials to provide a colorful illustration of the consequences and timeframe of evolutionary events.