BRC-BIO: Phenotypic convergence and trait loss in high-elevation Andean frogs

热带山脉是研究环境如何产生和塑造生物多样性的天然实验室。在高安第斯山脉，寒冷的温度和独特的栖息地在生物的分布，活动和行为中起着重要的作用。有趣的是，这些条件支持了一个被称为陆地繁殖青蛙的两栖动物群体。最近对这些青蛙的研究表明，生活在高海拔地区的远亲物种表现出更相似的体型（例如，他们有较短的四肢和较短的吻）比物种在较低的海拔。此外，与低海拔地区的青蛙相比，高海拔地区的青蛙通常没有耳朵。这个项目将确定解释这些可预测的身体形式的因素。它还将探讨缺乏耳朵如何影响高海拔安第斯蛙的社会沟通。通过与大学和自然历史博物馆的合作，项目团队将获得X射线图像，并测量保存标本的骨骼和其他内部结构。该团队将利用遗传数据来确定物种的进化关系，并确定相似特征之间的重复进化模式。该项目将为本科生提供实用和引人入胜的研究经验。此外，高中生将参加一个研讨会，提供有关教育和研究机会在大学的信息。通过这些经验，该项目将推进增加科学，技术，工程和数学中代表性不足的群体的参与的目标。趋同进化是在远亲物种中出现相似的表型性状。这是许多进化辐射的共同特征。岛屿上适应性辐射的经典例子（例如，Anolis蜥蜴）揭示了可预测的表型可以在地理空间中进化。这些模式提供了对环境在塑造形态，生理和行为特征中的作用的见解。然而，理解不同的形态特征如何在复制进化辐射中进化仍然具有挑战性，因为特征可以独立变化（例如，青蛙的头骨形状和四肢长度可以表现出不同的形态变化率）。此外，一些性状的丧失可能导致其他连锁或非连锁性状的变化。该项目旨在利用关于陆生繁殖蛙（Strabomantidae）的形态多样性、系统发育关系和海拔分布的新数据，了解高海拔地区表型趋同和性状丧失的模式。研究将集中在八个属（Bryophryne，Lynchius，Noblella，Microkayla，Oreobates，Phrynopus，Pristimantis和Psychrophrynella），包含生活在高海拔安第斯栖息地的物种。使用X射线微计算机断层扫描（microCT扫描）收集的形态数据将与生态和系统发育数据相结合。这些数据将用于测试相似的高海拔环境是否会导致相似的体型。此外，这项研究将检查声学通信中关键结构的独立损失是否在高海拔地区丢失或修改。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

Tropical mountains are natural laboratories to study how the environment generates and shapes organismal diversity. In the high Andes, cold temperatures and unique habitats play an important role in the distribution, activity, and behavior of organisms. Interestingly, these conditions support a diverse group of amphibians known as terrestrial-breeding frogs. Recent work on these frogs has revealed that distantly-related species living at high elevations exhibit more similar body shape to one another (e.g., they have shorter limbs and shorter snout) than species at lower elevations. Additionally, high-elevation frogs often lack ears compared to those found at lower elevations. This project will identify factors that explain these predictable body forms. It will also explore how lacking ears may affect the social communication of high-elevation Andean frogs. Through collaborations across universities and natural history museums, the project team will obtain X-ray images and measure the skeleton and other internal structures in preserved specimens. The team will use genetic data to determine the species’ evolutionary relationships and identify patterns of repeated evolution among similar features. This project will provide practical and engaging research experiences for undergraduate students. Additionally, high school students will participate in a workshop providing information about education and research opportunities at the university. Through these experiences, the project will advance the goal of increasing participation of underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.Convergent evolution is the emergence of similar phenotypic traits in distantly-related species. It is a common feature of many evolutionary radiations. Classic examples of adaptive radiations on islands (e.g., Anolis lizards) reveal that predictable phenotypes can evolve across biogeographic space. These patterns provide insights into the role of the environment in shaping morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits. However, understanding how different morphological traits evolve in replicate evolutionary radiations remains challenging because traits can vary independently (e.g., skull shape and limb length in frogs can exhibit different rates of morphological change). Additionally, the loss of some traits can lead to changes in other linked or unlinked traits. This project aims to use new data on morphological diversity, phylogenetic relationships, and elevational distribution of terrestrial breeding frogs (Strabomantidae) to understand patterns of phenotypic convergence and trait loss at high elevations. Research will focus on eight genera (Bryophryne, Lynchius, Noblella, Microkayla, Oreobates, Phrynopus, Pristimantis, and Psychrophrynella), containing species living in high-elevation Andean habitats. Morphological data collected using X-ray micro-computed tomography (microCT scanning) will be combined with ecological and phylogenetic data. The data will be used to test if similar high-elevation environments lead to similar body shapes. Additionally, this research will examine whether independent losses of key structures in acoustic communication have been lost or modified at high elevation.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.