RUI Collaborative Research: Systematics and Biogeography of Mite Harvestmen of the Australian Wet Tropics

为什么热带雨林栖息地支持如此多的动物多样性？解决这个问题的一种方法是检验关于这种多样性的进化起源的假说。这项研究项目将使用现代基因工具来检验这一假设，即大约1.8万年前最后一次冰川盛期期间森林栖息地的碎片化推动了澳大利亚昆士兰湿热带地区一群微小的蜘蛛类--螨类收割者--的物种形成过程。此外，研究人员还将命名和描述这一鲜为人知的动物群体中的许多新物种。标本将被保存在昆士兰博物馆和哈佛比较动物学博物馆，并将通过从博物馆借来的方式提供给专业生物学家。在这个项目的过程中，6名本科生将参加昆士兰的实地考察，至少20名本科生将接受扫描电子显微镜和DNA测序等实验室研究技术的培训。学生学习将在夏季的几个月进行，届时学生将得到支持，全职从事独立研究项目，并作为Macalester学院课程的一部分。此外，研究人员将与贝尔自然历史博物馆(明尼苏达大学)的外展工作人员合作，通过讲座和展品向公众传播这项工作的成果。

Why do rainforest habitats support such a large diversity of animal life? One way to approach this question is to test hypotheses about the evolutionary origins of that diversity. This research project will use modern genetic tools to test the hypothesis that fragmentation of forest habitats during the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 18,000 years ago drove the speciation process in a group of tiny arachnids, the mite harvestmen, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia. In addition, the researchers will name and describe many species of this poorly known animal group that are new to science. Specimens will be deposited in the Queensland Museum and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and will be available to professional biologists through loans from the museums.Over the course of this project, six undergraduate students will participate in fieldwork in Queensland, and at least 20 undergraduates will be trained in lab research techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and DNA sequencing. Student learning will happen both during the summer months, when students will be supported to work full-time on independent research projects, and as part of coursework at Macalester College. In addition, the researchers will work with outreach staff at the Bell Museum of Natural History (University of Minnesota) to disseminate the results of this work to the public through talks and exhibits.