Preparation of Research Collections to Deposit in Museums

该项目将整理、保存和存档阿拉斯加和加利福尼亚州的刺鱼化石和现存标本的重要收藏。长期以来，刺鱼一直是进化生物学中的一个重要模型系统，并以其复杂的交配行为和种群间的形态和生活史多样性而闻名。这一收集自1975年以来收集，代表了刺鱼广泛的表型多样性，因此，该数据来源对于当前和未来对刺鱼的比较或实验研究，以及一般的进化和行为过程至关重要。特别有价值的是化石样本，因为它们是更好地了解进化动态的时间安排的核心，包括特征关系的趋势及其在形成刺鱼多样性方面的作用。该项目将使国内和国际的研究人员都能获得这些收藏。它将在基础科学和应用科学(如鱼类和野生动物系)方面提供重要的培训和研究机会。化石标本将保存在加州大学古生物学博物馆；现存的标本将保存在加州科学院的鱼类学收藏中。样本和相关记录将被编入索引，并与实地笔记相联系，相关数据库将被分配博物馆标本编号。管理和保存这些标本将使它们可供普通科学界使用。保存这一研究收藏将确保继续使用这一宝贵的资源，样本记录的准备将涉及高通量扫描、标签的准确编辑、微观地层数据的整理以及地图坐标数据。样本记录将链接到现有的湖泊数据库，以及阿拉斯加鱼类和猎物部门的阿拉斯加样本记录。

This project will organize, preserve, and archive an important collection of fossil and extant specimens of stickleback fish from Alaska and California. Sticklebacks have long been a critical model system in evolutionary biology, and are known for their complex mating behavior and diversity among populations in terms of morphology and life-history. This collection, which was assembled since 1975, represents extensive phenotypic diversity in stickleback fish, and therefore this data-source is crucial for current and future comparative or experimental research on sticklebacks in particular, and evolutionary and behavioral processes in general. Of particular value are the fossil samples, as they are central to gain a better understanding of the timing of evolutionary dynamics, including trends in trait relationships and their role in shaping stickleback diversity. This project will make this collection accessible to researchers nationally, and internationally. It will provide important training and research opportunities in basic and applied sciences (e.g., Department of Fish and Wildlife).The fossil specimens will be deposited in the University of California Museum of Paleontology; the extant specimens will be deposited in the Ichthyology Collection of the California Academy of Sciences. The samples and associated records will be indexed and linked to field notes and associated databases will be assigned museum specimen numbers. Curating and depositing these specimens will make them available to the general science community. The preservation of this research collection will ensure the continued use of this valuable resource, and preparation of sample records will involve high-throughput scanning, accuracy-editing of labels, curation of microstratigraphic data as well as map coordinate data. Sample records will be linked to an existing limnological database, as well as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game records for the Alaskan samples.