DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Liochelidae of the Indo-Pacific Region: Systematics and Biogeography

印度-太平洋地区复杂的地质历史——包括五个构造板块、众多微大陆和火山岛弧之间的相互作用——产生了世界上最丰富但却最不为人知的生物群落之一。与该地区的其他生物一样，印度太平洋蝎子的多样性和地方性很高。本项目利用解剖学和分子数据，研究了印度太平洋蝎子科的多样性、进化和生物地理学。摘要螯蝎因其有限的传播能力、特殊的生境要求和较高的特有率而成为进化和生物地理学研究的理想模式生物。在过去的3500万年里，这些蝎子的进化史和大地构造事件之间的一致性将用分子钟来评估。考虑到自然栖息地的迅速破坏和物种的加速灭绝，对印度-太平洋地区的生物群进行调查、清点和描述的紧迫性不容忽视。螯蝎主要栖息在受威胁的热带森林中，是环境干扰和特有地区的良好指标。综合它们的多样性和分布将为印度-太平洋地区的保护和生物多样性管理提供数据。该项目提出的生物地理分析也将为地质学家提供数据，他们越来越依赖此类研究来证实地质假设。

The complex geological history of the Indo-Pacific region -- involving interactions between five tectonic plates, numerous microcontinents, and volcanic island arcs -- has produced one of the world's richest, yet least well known, biotas. As with other organisms in this region, the diversity and endemism of Indo-Pacific scorpions is high. This project investigates the diversity, evolution and biogeography of the scorpion family Liochelidae in the Indo-Pacific, using anatomical and molecular data. Liochelid scorpions are ideal model organisms for evolutionary and biogeographical studies due to their restricted dispersal ability, specific habitat requirements and high rate of endemism. Congruence between the evolutionary history of these scorpions and geotectonic events during the last 35 million years will be assessed using molecular clocks.The urgency of surveying, inventorying and describing the biota of the Indo-Pacific region cannot be underemphasized given the rapid destruction of natural habitats and accelerating extinction of species. Liochelid scorpions, which mostly inhabit threatened tropical forests, are good indicators of environmental disturbance and areas of endemism. A synthesis of their diversity and distribution will provide data for conservation and biodiversity management in the Indo-Pacific. The biogeographical analysis presented by this project will also provide data for geologists, who increasingly rely on such studies to corroborate geological hypotheses.