Collaborative Research: The Opiliones of New Zealand: Revisionary synthesis and application of species delimitation for testing biogeographic hypotheses

新西兰提供了一个将进化论和生物地理学--生物在太空中的分布--相结合的理想环境。自从大约8000万年前从冈瓦那分裂出来以来，这个群岛一直是由于与其他大陆的隔离而形成的，随后在渐新世期间发生了剧烈的洪水，在南阿尔卑斯山形成期间进行了大规模的山体建设，以及在最后一次冰盛期期间气候变化，所有这些都在其生物群上留下了印记。这项研究旨在研究这些历史过程，同时对古老起源的一组独特的蜘蛛类(奥普利奥斯目-收割者或长腿爸爸)进行修订，因此通过它们的演化史见证了这些地质变化。为此，研究小组将结合经典的分类学方法和尖端的分子方法来了解这一未被研究的蜘蛛类群体的多样性和进化史。这项研究还将有助于通过博物馆展览和广泛倡议在岛屿上传播进化研究，并培训能够将基因组学与生物多样性发现和分析相结合的下一代进化生物学家。这将是新西兰首次对蜘蛛纲进行全面的分类处理，这是一个物种组成独特的地区，也是由于许多自然栖息地退化而成为优先保护生物多样性的热点。三所美国机构的博士后研究人员和许多学生将接受广泛的培训，并积极参与研究工作。本研究将以新西兰五科223种命名种为研究对象。当代的物种发现方法可能会修正这个总数，预计这个数字将增加约20%。随着比较动物学博物馆现有的大量藏品，以及新西兰博物馆中大多数类型(用于描述和命名物种的原始标本)的可获得性，这项研究的目的是解决这种动物，并研究在不同时间尺度和前所未有的水平上塑造它的进化过程。将结合下一代序列数据和尖端形态技术，提供对新西兰Opilione物种多样性的严格估计，作为适用于世界其他区域的范例。这项研究将使用200个个体的转录数据来生成南半球三个血统的系统发育图，这将允许测试与古特有和古代冈德瓦南分手事件有关的生物地理假说。然后将使用选定的属来检验与后冈底瓦地质历史有关的生物地理假说，包括渐新世海侵、南阿尔卑斯山造山和最后一次冰川最大避难所，使用RAD-测序NGS方法。最后，这项研究的目标是制作分类专著，处理新西兰Opilione的所有物种，同时开发新的标准，将包括图像、视频和基因组数据在内的生物多样性数据与通过在线公开提供的中央数据库MCZbase的标本记录联系起来。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

New Zealand offers an ideal setting in which to combine the study of evolution and biogeography - the distribution of living beings in space. The archipelago has been shaped by isolation from other landmasses since it split from Gondwana approximately 80 million years ago, followed by drastic flooding during the Oligocene, massive mountain building during the formation of the Southern Alps, and changing climate during the Last Glacial Maximum, all of which have left a signature on its biota. This research aims to study these historical processes while conducting a revision of a unique group of arachnids (order Opiliones - harvestmen or daddy long-legs) of ancient origin and that therefore have witnessed these geological changes through their evolutionary history. For this, the research team will combine classic taxonomic methods with cutting-edge molecular approaches to understand the diversity and evolutionary history of this under-studied group of arachnids. The research will also contribute to disseminating evolutionary research in islands through museum exhibits and broad initiatives and to train the next generation of evolutionary biologists able to combine genomics with biodiversity discovery and analysis. This will constitute the first comprehensive taxonomic treatment of an arachnid order in New Zealand, an area of unique species composition and a biodiversity hotspot for conservation priorities due to the degradation of many natural habitats. Postdoctoral researchers and and many students at three US institutions will receive extensive training and be heavily involved in the research effort. This research will focus on the order Opiliones represented in New Zealand by 223 named species in five native families. Contemporary approaches to species discovery may revise this total number, which is already expected to increase by approximately 20%. With the large existing collections at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the availability of most types (original specimens used to describe and name species) in New Zealand museums, this research aims to tackle this fauna and study the evolutionary processes that shaped it at different time-scales and at an unprecedented level. A rigorous estimate of the Opiliones species diversity in New Zealand will be provided by using a combination of next-generation sequence data and cutting edge morphological techniques, serving as an example applicable to other regions of the world. The research will use transcriptomic data from 200 individuals to generate phylogenies of three southern Hemisphere lineages that will allow testing of biogeographic hypotheses related to paleo-endemism and ancient Gondwanan breakup events. Selected genera will then be used to test biogeographic hypotheses related to post-Gondwanan geological history, including Oligocene marine transgressions, Southern Alps orogeny and Last Glacial Maximum refugia, using a RAD-sequencing NGS approach. Finally the research aims to produce taxonomic monographs treating all the species of New Zealand Opiliones while developing new standards for linking biodiversity data, including images, videos, and genomic data, to specimen records through the centralized database MCZbase, publicly available online.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.