ARTS: Uncovering the Desert Darkling Beetles (Tenebrionidae: Pimeliinae): Phylogenomics, phenomics, and biogeography in a megadiverse global radiation

沙漠暗甲虫（鞘翅目：拟甲科：拟甲科）是一种非常多样化的生物（8000多种已描述的物种），但研究很少，它们在世界各地都有发现，特别是在沙漠环境中。事实上，许多物种已经进化到能够在地球上一些最干燥和最热的地方生存，并形成了沙漠生态系统的关键组成部分。这个亚科包括众所周知的物种，如纳米比亚雾浴甲虫（Onymacris unguicularis，用于仿生学研究）和北美蓝色假死甲虫（Asbolus verrucosus），以及数千种鲜为人知或尚未被描述的物种。这项研究将描述数百种科学上的新物种，探索这些甲虫生活的地方以及它们在地球上的相互关系，并研究使这些甲虫在世界沙漠中茁壮成长和多样化的各种适应。该项目还将培养一名博士后研究员、两名博士生和大约15名本科生，并促进合作，为来自全球各地的不同科学家群体提供培训。项目参与者还将在北亚利桑那大学和纳米比亚著名的戈巴布研究中心之间设计和领导混合课程，并努力加强所有参与机构的研究收藏。该项目将通过以下方法解决几个世纪以来我们对沙漠暗甲虫的理解：1)利用高通量测序和目标富集方法从最近收集的和博物馆标本中生成DNA数据，恢复大约500个物种的约631个遗传位点。此外，将对每个物种的大约300个幼虫和成虫的形态特征进行评分。形态学数据将与分子数据相结合，重建亚科的进化历史。由此产生的系统发育将为分类决策提供信息，并有助于在进化背景下放置当前分布和生活史。2)利用mx/TaxonWorks生物信息学平台和基于矩阵的方法编码和组织形态学特征进行描述，并与鞘翅目解剖学本体（ColAO）相连接，为解剖学术语提供明确的定义和图像，制作亚科的开放获取电子专著。该专著将包括第一个世界范围内的黑甲虫部落和亚部落的钥匙，标本和特征的图像，分布图，黑甲虫名称和文献的广泛目录，以及基于矩阵的描述。3)利用由此产生的系统发育、20,000多个地理参考博物馆和现代标本，以及最近开发的生物地理分析工具，研究整个亚科的历史生物地理学、多样化模式和对干旱条件的适应。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Desert darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Pimeliinae) are an incredibly diverse (8,000+ described species) but poorly studied group of organisms that are found across the world, particularly in desert environments. Indeed, many species have evolved to survive in some of the driest and hottest places on Earth, and form a key component of desert ecosystems. The subfamily includes well known species such as Namibian fog basking beetles (Onymacris unguicularis, used in biomimicry research) and the North American blue death-feigning beetle (Asbolus verrucosus), along with thousands of poorly known or still undescribed species. This research will describe hundreds of species new to science, explore where these beetles live and how they are related to each other across the planet, and investigate the various adaptations that have allowed these beetles to thrive and diversify across the world's deserts. This project will also train a postdoctoral researcher, two Ph.D. students, and approximately 15 undergraduate students, as well as facilitating collaborations and providing training to a diverse group of scientists from across the globe. Project participants will also be designing and leading hybrid courses between Northern Arizona University and Namibia's renowned Gobabeb Research Center, and working to enhance research collections in all participating institutions. This project will resolve centuries-old issues in our understanding of desert darkling beetles by 1) generating DNA data from recently collected and museum specimens using high-throughput sequencing and target enrichment methods to recover ~631 genetic loci for approximately 500 species across the Pimeliinae. Additionally, approximately 300 larval and adult morphological characters will be scored for each species. Morphological data will be combined with the molecular data to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the subfamily. The resulting phylogeny will inform taxonomic decisions and help place current distributions and life histories within an evolutionary context. 2) Producing an Open Access electronic monograph of the subfamily using the mx/TaxonWorks bioinformatics platform and a matrix-based approach to coding and organizing morphological characters for descriptions, linked to the Coleoptera Anatomy Ontology (ColAO) to provide explicit definitions and images for anatomical terms. The monograph will include the first worldwide key to the Pimeliinae tribes and subtribes, images of specimens and characters, distribution maps, an extensive catalog of darkling beetle names and literature, and matrix-based descriptions. 3) Examining historical biogeography, diversification patterns, and adaptations to xeric conditions across the subfamily using the resulting phylogeny, over 20,000 georeferenced museum and modern specimens, and recently developed analytical tools for biogeographic analyses.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.