COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Systematics of a pantropical diversification: the suboscine passerine birds

Galápagos岛上的达尔文雀是进化中最令人印象深刻的例子之一。在殖民岛屿之后，单一的雀类祖先最终分化成13种不同大小、喙形和生态的物种。海底雀形目鸟类也表现出类似的历史，但它们的多样化并不局限于一小群岛屿；相反，它们遍布南美洲、中美洲、北美洲和旧大陆的部分地区。现在有1300个物种在体型和大小、摄食行为和巢穴结构上有很大的不同。该项目的主要目标是利用DNA序列来重建这些物种的进化史，并利用这个模型系统来研究为什么热带地区的生物多样性如此之高。美国和巴西科学家之间的这个合作项目的一个重要组成部分是它将提供的研究培训。由于计划在阿根廷、智利、哥斯达黎加、马来西亚、委内瑞拉和越南进行实地考察，来自不同国家的年轻科学家不仅将接触到不同的自然环境，而且还将与他们的国际同行进行互动并建立关系。通过共同努力重建也许是世界上最壮观的鸟类进化辐射，研究人员将了解进化如何在大陆范围内进行，同时培养新一代科学家。

Darwin's finches of the Galápagos Islands stand as one of the most impressive examples of evolution. After colonizing the islands, a single ancestral finch species eventually diversified into 13 species of different sizes, bill shapes, and ecologies. The suboscine passerine birds exhibit a similar history, but their diversification was not limited to a small set of islands; instead they are found throughout South America, Central America, North America, and parts of the Old World. There are now 1,300 species that differ dramatically in body shape and size, feeding behavior, and nest architecture. The primary goal of this project is to use DNA sequences to reconstruct the evolutionary history of these species, and to use this model system to investigate why the tropics are so biologically diverse.A vital component of this collaborative project between U.S. and Brazilian scientists is the research training it will provide. With fieldwork planned in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Venezuela, and Viet Nam, young scientists from a diversity of countries will be exposed not only to a diversity of natural environments but will also interact and forge relationships with their international peers. By working together to reconstruct perhaps the most spectacular evolutionary radiations of birds in the world, the researchers will learn how evolution works on a continental scale while training a new generation of scientists.