HARNESSING MODERN PHYLOGENETIC COMPARATIVE METHODS TO UNDERSTAND THE DIVERSIFICATION OF ANOSTOMOID FISHES

这个项目调查了世界上最重要的淡水鱼群之一的生物多样性是如何进化的。包括水虎鱼，水虎鱼和许多其他受欢迎的观赏鱼，特征目代表了地球上最多样化的鱼类群体之一，但它的一些科包括许多不同形状，大小和饮食的物种，而其他的包括许多具有相似栖息地，食物来源和解剖结构的物种。为什么有些群体比其他群体更多样化？它的许多物种是如何在它们的家谱中融合在一起的？十几种或更多生态上相似的物种是如何在一条河流中共存的？这个项目将通过使用传统的DNA分析、骨骼解剖研究和新的基因组方法，为非常多样化的超级家族（头足动物和近亲）组装一个全面的生命树来解决这些问题。然后，生命之树将作为一个框架，用于调查解剖和生态生物多样性的演变。总的来说，该项目综合了两国的专业知识和遗传资源，建立了持久的国际合作，并以精确和详细的方式重建了一些最有趣的南美鱼类的进化史，如果实验室单独工作，这是不可能的。它利用了美国和巴西不同的人力资本，包括之前对这些鱼类进行进化研究的作者，巴西？美国领先的鱼类遗传学家，分类学专家，基因组学和宏观进化的领导者，以及两国的学生。其他更广泛的影响包括本科生参与研究和推广，开发dna条形码库和交互式在线识别密钥，赞助研究生参加培训研讨会，积极参与史密森尼的“科学家在”计划，该计划使公众与博物馆下属的研究人员和标本直接接触。

This project investigates how the biodiversity of one of the world's most important groups of freshwater fishes evolved. Containing tetras, piranhas and many other popular aquarium fishes, order Characiformes represents one of the most diverse groups of fishes on the planet, but some of its families include species of many varying shapes, sizes and diets, while others include numerous species with similar habitats, food sources and anatomies. Why are some groups more diverse than others? How do its many species fit together on their family tree? How do a dozen or more ecologically similar species coexist in a single river? This project will tackle such questions by assembling a comprehensive tree-of-life for the very diverse characiform superfamily Anostomoidea (headstanders and relatives) using traditional DNA analysis, study of skeletal anatomy, and a new genomic approach. Then, that tree-of-life will serve as a framework with which to investigate the evolution of anatomical and ecological biodiversity.Overall, this project synthesizes the expertise and genetic resources of two countries to forge an enduring international collaboration and reconstruct the evolutionary history of some of the most intriguing South American fishes with precision and detail that would be impossible if the labs were to work alone. It draws on diverse human capital in the US and in Brazil, including the author of previous evolutionary studies on these fishes, one of Brazil?s leading fish geneticists, an expert on taxonomy, a leader in genomics and macroevolution, and students in both countries. Other broader impacts include the involvement of undergraduate students in research and outreach, development of a DNA-barcode library and interactive online identification key, sponsorship of graduate students at a training workshop and active participation in the Smithsonian's "The Scientist is In" program, which brings the public into direct contact with museum-affiliated researchers and specimens.