NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: Evolution of complex characters: elucidating morphological correlates to the origin of luminescent courtship behaviors of ostracods

这是美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金，隶属于生物馆藏研究项目。这位名叫杰西卡·古德哈特（Jessica Goodheart）的研究员正在进行研究，并接受以创新方式利用生物标本的培训，她的导师是加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的托德·奥克利（Todd Oakley）博士。这名研究员的研究重点是甲壳类动物介形虫求偶期间生物发光的使用。在动物界，利用生物发光求爱的行为相对罕见，但在许多生物中都有发生，包括软体动物、节肢动物、多毛动物和鱼类。有证据表明，这些展示的进化起源与所有这些不同群体中生物多样性的增加有关。这种增加表明生物发光求偶行为是物种形成和进化的重要特征。该研究员试图确定身体形状和形态的差异，这些差异可能与介形虫生物发光的起源及其在这种行为中的用途有关。这项研究有可能提供关于物种形成和进化作为一个一般过程的重要信息。最后，该研究员将参加多项外展活动，包括加州大学圣巴巴拉分校海洋科学研究所的K-12教师专业发展和公众互动。介形虫类甲壳类动物，在海洋领域中表现出一些最复杂的求爱行为，其中包括生物发光脉冲。很明显，在这些求偶表现中，发光的使用是不同的（例如，求偶的峰值时间和发光的强度）。然而，人们对可能与这些展示有关的形态特征的进化知之甚少。为了解决这些空白，本研究包括两个目标：1)生成一个有充分支持的塞浦路斯科系统发育，2)确定可能与该家族生物发光起源及其在求偶中的使用有关的形态学差异。使用目标序列捕获将生成一个健壮的系统发育，然后使用纳米ct技术收集形态数据。这些数据将在新的系统发育框架下在物种之间进行比较。该研究员将接受目标序列捕获和纳米ct技术的培训，以及这项工作所需的几种系统发育比较方法。此外，该研究员将培训来自生物科学中代表性不足的群体的本科生，并将与K-12教师一起领导一个讲习班，以该研究为基础开发关于进化论的教学练习。

This is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, under the program Research Using Biological Collections. The fellow, Jessica Goodheart, is conducting research and receiving training that utilizes biological collections in innovative ways, and is being mentored by Dr. Todd Oakley at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The fellow's research focuses on the use of bioluminescence during courtship, in crustaceans called ostracods. In the animal kingdom, courtship displays using bioluminescence are relatively rare, yet occur in many types of organisms, including mollusks, arthropods, polychaetes and fish. Evidence suggests that the evolutionary origin of these displays is associated with an increase in biodiversity, within all of these different groups. This increase suggests that bioluminescent courtship behavior is an important character for speciation and evolution. The fellow seeks to determine the differences in body shape and form that may be associated with the origin of bioluminescence in ostracods and its use in this behavior. This research has the potential to provide important information regarding speciation and evolution as a general process. Finally, the fellow will be participating in multiple outreach activities, including K-12 teacher professional development and public interaction at the Marine Science Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara.Ostracod crustaceans of the family Cypridinidae exhibit some of the most complex courtship displays in the marine realm, which incorporate bioluminescent pulses. It is clear that there is variation in the use of luminescence during these courtship displays (e.g. peak timing of courtship and intensity of the luminescence). However, little is known about the evolution of morphological characters that may be associated with the displays. To address these gaps, this research includes two objectives: 1) generate a well-supported phylogeny of Cypridinidae, and 2) determine the differences in morphology that may be associated with the origin of bioluminescence and its use in courtship within this family. A robust phylogeny will be generated using targeted sequence capture, followed by the collection of morphological data using nano-CT technology. These data will be compared among species in the new phylogenetic framework. The fellow will be trained in targeted sequence capture and nano-CT techniques, as well as several phylogenetic comparative methods necessary for this work. In addition, the fellow will train undergraduates from groups underrepresented in the biological sciences and will lead a workshop with K-12 teachers to develop a teaching exercise on evolution based on this research.