IRFP: Upland Biogeography and Adaptive Radiation of the Neotropical Rubbernose Loricariids

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。该项目的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并提供了使用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件的机会。该奖项是与国际科学与工程办公室的美洲计划共同资助的。该项目将为安第斯山脉高地河流和溪流以及地质上古老的圭亚那盾所特有的七个属的南美洲山地巨嘴装甲叉鱼(Loricariidae)生成一个经过时间校准的多位点分子系统学。现有的基于形态的系统发育支持这个跨高地支系(THC)的单系和它在Ancistrini部落中的位置(Siluriformes：Loricariidae)，并表明安第斯血统是单系系，起源于圭亚那盾谱系。该项目产生的新的THC系统发育将1)检验以前基于形态的假说，2)将用于研究THC地理扩散和更替的速率和时间，以及颌骨形态和营养生态多样性的速率--解决Loricariidae内多样性的内在和外部机制，Loricariidae是物种最丰富的科，也是最多样化和专门化的鱼群之一。这项研究将首次使用明确的系统发育背景来调查Loricariidae生物地理扩散的速率和时间，以及颌骨形态和相关的营养生态多样性。通过研究内在和外在的进化影响，它不仅将对新热带鱼类学和南美洲生物地理学领域产生影响，还将对推动生物进化的基本过程的理解产生影响。该项目将培训一名全日制博士后研究人员，并将在加拿大和横贯高地枝科(THC)Loricariidae物种分布的每个安第斯国家培训学生。国际和平协会和东道主在哥伦比亚、秘鲁、委内瑞拉和圭亚那都有与妇女和代表性不足的种族群体合作的历史。这项提议将加强这些合作，并扩大厄瓜多尔的教育机会。国际和平协会目前正在指导秘鲁和委内瑞拉的生物学家对它们各自国家的毛虾属进行分类修订。这些学生研究人员已经拥有了包含数百个样本的形态测量数据集。作为这项提议的一部分，指导将扩大到厄瓜多尔和哥伦比亚的学生--允许对长期存在问题的Chaotstoma属进行全面、合作和分类学的修订。国际学生协会和东道主将为每个国际学生访问多伦多寻求额外的支持，以通过形态计量学进行分类学辨别的高级培训，并发布分类学结果。这项提案的主要成果，包括对Chaetstoma分类的修订、物种水平的跨高地分支(THC)系统发育以及对THC营养生态功能的深入了解，也将有助于侧重于安第斯和圭亚那盾牌高地的水生养护工作，这些地区的人为影响正在迅速扩大。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award is co-funded with the Americas Program in the Office of International Science and Engineering.This project will generate a time-calibrated, multilocus molecular phylogeny for seven genera of South American montane suckermouth armored-catfishes (Loricariidae) endemic to upland rivers and streams of the Andes Mountains and the geologically ancient Guiana Shield. An existing morphology-based phylogeny for this Trans-Highland Clade (THC) supports its monophyly and its placement within the tribe Ancistrini (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), and indicates that Andean lineages are monophyletic and derived from Guiana Shield lineages. The new THC phylogeny generated by this project will 1) test previous morphology-based hypotheses and 2) will be used to study rates and timing of THC geographic dispersal and vicariance, as well as rates of jaw morphological and trophic ecological diversification -- addressing both intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms of diversification within Loricariidae, the most species-rich family of catfishes and one of the most diverse and specialized groups of fishes.This study will be the first to use an explicitly phylogenetic context to investigate rates and timing of loricariid biogeographic dispersal and jaw morphological and associated trophic ecological diversification. By investigating both intrinsic and extrinsic evolutionary influences, it will have ramifications not only for the fields of Neotropical ichthyology and South American biogeography, but also for the understanding of fundamental processes driving organismal evolution.This project will train one full-time post-doctoral researcher and will train students in Canada and in each of the Andean countries across which Trans-Highland Clade (THC) Loricariidae species are distributed. The PI and hosts have a history of working with women and under-represented ethnic groups in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Guyana. This proposal will strengthen these collaborations and expand educational opportunities to Ecuador. The PI is currently mentoring Peruvian and Venezuelan biologists on taxonomic revisions of the THC genus Chaetostoma in their respective countries. These student researchers have morphometric datasets already containing hundreds of specimens. As part of this proposal, mentoring will be broadened to students in Ecuador and Colombia - allowing for a comprehensive, collaborative, taxonomic revision of the long-problematic genus Chaetostoma. The PI and hosts will seek additional support for visits by each international student to Toronto for advanced training in taxonomic discrimination via morphometrics and the publication of taxonomic results. Major results of this proposal, including a Chaetostoma taxonomic revision, a species-level Trans-Highland Clade (THC) phylogeny, and a refined understanding of THC trophic ecological function, will also assist aquatic conservation efforts focused on the Andean and Guiana Shield highlands, where anthropogenic impacts are rapidly expanding.