Collaborative Research: Diversification in the Deep-Sea and the Evolution of Fangs, Bioluminescence, Hermaphroditism, and Marine Habitat Transitions

所有在深海中进化的动物都处于类似的选择压力下，这是极端环境（例如，很少或没有穿透的阳光，高大气压）的结果。这种极端的栖息地导致了深海生物在动物形态和行为上的大规模趋同，从产生和发射光（生物发光）到进化出更大的毒牙和张大的嘴巴。这个多学科项目将调查影响深海鱼类进化的过程，以及它们在这个迷人的水生领域的成功。本研究整合了基于遗传和形态学数据、比较形态学、生态学和进化生物学的系统发育关系，以扩大我们对深海鱼类进化、繁衍和多样化的理解。这项研究将增加我们对各种深海进化适应的理解，包括用于捕食、防御、物种识别和性选择的生物发光结构。这些新颖的形态和行为从未在基于分子和形态数据的强大进化框架内进行过研究。由此产生的假设将包括一个基于化石记录的时间成分，这将使我们第一次探索这些特化是否对深海物种形成有潜在的影响。本项目将支持在美国堪萨斯大学和美国自然历史博物馆培养海洋生物学、系统学和进化生物学的博士后、研究生、本科生和高中生。这项工作的发现将继续增加由PI Sparks和co-PI Smith（光的生物）创建和策划的新的生物发光展览。

All animals that have evolved in the deep sea are under similar selective pressures as a result of the environmental extremes (e.g., little to no penetrable sunlight, high atmospheric pressure). This extreme habitat has led to massive convergence in animal morphology and behavior across deep-sea organisms ranging from the production and emission of light (bioluminescence) to the evolution of enlarged fangs and gaping mouths. This multidisciplinary project will investigate the processes that have impacted the evolution of deep-sea fishes and their success in this fascinating aquatic realm. This study integrates phylogenetic relationships based on genetic and morphological data, comparative morphology, ecology, and evolutionary biology in an effort to broaden our understanding of fishes that have evolved, thrived, and diversified in the deep sea. This research will increase our understanding of a diverse array of deep-sea evolutionary adaptations, including bioluminescent structures that are used for predation, defense, species recognition, and sexual selection. These novel morphologies and behaviors have never before been studied within the context of a robust evolutionary framework based on molecular and morphological data. The resulting hypotheses will include a temporal component based on the fossil record that will allow us to explore, for the first time, whether these specializations are having potential effects on speciation in the deep sea. This project will support the training of postdoctoral, graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in marine biology, systematics, and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas and American Museum of Natural History. Findings from this work will continue to augment a new bioluminescence exhibit created and curated by PI Sparks and co-PI Smith (Creatures of Light).