DISSERTATION RESEARCH: A Total Evidence Phylogeny of the Ants

美国自然历史博物馆的研究人员正在使用来自世界各地沉积物的2000万至1亿年前的琥珀标本(树树脂化石)来了解蚂蚁是如何从祖先独居的黄蜂进化成今天多样化和丰富的群居生物的。AMNH以及俄罗斯、英国、法国和巴西的博物馆中的化石和现代标本正在使用基于X射线的3D重建和传统光学显微镜进行研究。这些数据与已公布的现代蚂蚁的DNA序列相结合，并进行分析，以产生一个清晰的随时间进化的模式，以及有助于物种多样化的主要生理、行为和生态特征。蚂蚁是自然界最成功的故事之一。目前有超过12,000种蚂蚁，估计其生物量至少相当于所有人类。这个项目试图通过以一种新颖的方式详细描述这些模式生物之间的关系，从根本上为其他与行为、生态学、系统学和发育生物学相关的研究提供信息。此外，由于蚂蚁对公众来说非常熟悉和可识别，因此推广的潜力巨大。联合国际已经并将继续教育K-12学生和参观博物馆的公众，将蚂蚁作为理解一般生物概念的模型。

Researchers at the American Museum of Natural History are using 20 to 100 million year old amber specimens (fossilized tree resin) from deposits around the world to understand how ants evolved from an ancestral solitary wasp into the diverse and abundant group of social creatures they are today. Fossil and modern specimens in the AMNH, as well as in museums in Russia, England, France, and Brazil are being studied using X-Ray-based 3d reconstruction and traditional light microscopy. These data are being combined with published DNA sequences from modern ants and analyzed to produce a clear pattern of evolution through time and the major physiological, behavioral, and ecological features that aided in diversification.Ants are one of the greatest success stories in nature. At present there are over 12,000 species of ants, with an estimated biomass at least equal to all humans. This project seeks to fundamentally inform other studies relating to behavior, ecology, systematics, and developmental biology by detailing relationships among these model organisms in a novel way. In addition, because ants are very familiar and recognizable to the public, there is tremendous potential for outreach. The co-PI has and will continue to educate K-12 students and the museum-going public using ants as a model for understanding biological concepts at large.