ARTS: Revisionary taxonomy and systematics of the Appalachian millipede genera Apheloria and Nannaria

我们对与我们共享地球的动物的基本知识是有限的，据估计，科学家目前只知道地球上12%的物种。生物多样性为我们提供了重要的商品和服务，如水过滤、药物、分解、食品和纤维。没有通过分类学(命名和描述物种的科学)对生物多样性的基本知识，就不可能实现生物多样性对人类的好处。即使在美国，许多物种仍未被发现。例如，千足虫在森林中扮演着分解者的重要角色，它们分解腐烂的有机物质，并回收其营养物质供其他有机体使用。然而，它们是美国最不为人所知的动物类群之一。该项目专注于千足类Apheloria和Nannaria，这两个类群广泛分布于阿巴拉契亚阔叶林。美国已知26种，然而，有70多种Apheloria和Nannaria正在等待科学命名，甚至在华盛顿特区大都市地区的残存森林中还有一种新的Nannaria。这凸显了我们在了解千足虫多样性方面的不足，该项目将通过使用多种数据类型，确定新物种，并更好地了解阿巴拉契亚山脉这些种群的多样性和进化史。东部落叶林是不可替代的生物多样性的巨大宝库，但栖息地的丧失威胁着它。许多阿巴拉契亚地区的无脊椎动物，组成了这个动物群中最多样化的组成部分，对科学来说是未知的。在这个生态系统消失之前，了解和描述它的多样性是当务之急。这项研究项目将通过完成以下目标来发现和描述美国千足虫物种的多样性：(1)使用快速、技术驱动和准确的分类方法来解决美国千足虫研究中的基本分类缺陷；(2)建立描述物种的系统发育系统基础，并作为研究千足虫伪装和颜色进化的进化背景；以及(3)通过面对面的外展计划让地区公众和通过互联网的全球社区接触，培养对有机生物学和自然历史的欣赏。这些拇指大小的千足虫是一个天然有害动物协会的遗迹，该协会历史上包括整个美国东部的本土蚯蚓。

Our basic knowledge of the animals with which we share our planet is limited, with only an estimated 12% of Earth's species currently known to scientists. Biodiversity provides us with important goods and services like water filtration, medicines, decomposition, food, and fiber. Without a basic knowledge of biodiversity through taxonomy, which is the science of naming and describing species, realizing the benefits of biodiversity to humanity is impossible. Even in the United States, many species remain undiscovered. For example, millipedes fulfill an important role as decomposers in forests by breaking down decaying organic matter and recycling its nutrients for other organisms to use. However, they are among the least known of any animal group in the U.S. This project focuses on the millipede groups Apheloria and Nannaria, which are widespread in Appalachian hardwood forests. Twenty-six species are known from the U.S., however, over 70 species of Apheloria and Nannaria await scientific naming and there is even a new species of Nannaria within the remnant forests of the D.C. metro area. This highlights the deficiencies in our understanding of millipede diversity, and this project, through the use of multiple data types, will identify new species and obtain better understanding of the diversity and evolutionary history of these groups in the Appalachian Mountains. Eastern deciduous forests are tremendous repositories of irreplaceable biodiversity, but habitat loss threatens it. Many Appalachian invertebrates, which compose the most diverse component of this fauna, are unknown to science. It is imperative to understand and describe the diversity of this ecosystem before it is lost. This research project will discover and describe millipede species diversity in the U.S. by accomplishing the following objectives: (1) overcome basic taxonomic deficiencies in U.S. millipede studies using a rapid, technology-driven, and accurate approach to taxonomic treatments of the genera Apheloria and Nannaria; (2) establish a phylogenetic systematic foundation for describing species and as an evolutionary context to investigate camouflage and color evolution in xystodesmid millipedes; and (3) foster an appreciation for organismal biology and natural history by engaging the regional public through in-person outreach programs and the global community through the internet. These thumb-sized millipedes are remaining vestiges of a natural detritivore guild that historically encompassed native earthworms throughout the eastern United States.