COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Resolving an ancient radiation: gingers, phylogenies, and fossils.

Zingiberales目是一种具有重要经济和生态意义的热带植物，包括香蕉、姜、天堂鸟和美人蕉。该项目在地质时间尺度上研究了Zingiberales的遗传、形态和生态进化。现存物种和化石物种的形态数据将与DNA数据相结合，重建物种之间的进化关系和重要进化事件的时间。生物和化石物种的地理分布以及它们的生态随着时间的变化将被检查，以了解这些植物如何适应不同的地区和气候。需要整合来自化石和现代数据的多种证据，以了解进化驱动因素和反应，当前和历史的生物多样性，以及现代生态系统是如何形成的；所有这些都让我们了解了当前生物多样性的模式，并有能力预测未来的进化模式和生态系统过程。由于它们在今天的生态重要性和大量化石记录的存在，Zingiberales成为了这类研究的典范。此外，由于它们是热带和亚热带植物，它们将帮助我们了解变暖世界的生物学。

The order Zingiberales is a diverse group of economically and ecologically important tropical plants including banana, gingers, bird-of-paradise, and canna. This project examines the genetic, morphological, and ecological evolution of Zingiberales over geologic time scales. Morphological data from living and fossil species will be combined with DNA data to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among species and the timing of important evolutionary events. The geographical distribution of living and fossil species and changes in their ecology through time will then be examined to understand how these plants have adapted to different regions and climates through time. The integration of multiple lines of evidence from fossil and modern data is needed in order to understand evolutionary drivers and responses, current and historic biodiversity, and how modern ecosystems have been formed; all of which give us insight to the current patterns of biodiversity and the ability to predict future evolutionary patterns and ecosystem processes. The Zingiberales serve as a model for this type of study due to their ecological importance today and the presence of an extensive fossil record. In addition, because they are tropical and subtropical plants, they will help us understand the biology of a warming world.