NSFGEO-NERC: The first actinopterygian adaptive radiation: integrating fossils, function and phylogeny to illuminate innovation in a post-extinction..

古代的大规模迁徙导致了许多物种的丧失，但也为幸存的群体提供了新的机会。对这些事件的研究对于理解当今生物多样性的起源以及了解其面临的环境变化威胁至关重要。这项工作的重点是大约3.6亿年前发生的危机和恢复的主要间隔：泥盆纪/石炭纪灭绝。这项研究将确定这一事件对射线鳍鱼的早期历史的影响，今天的水生生态系统的关键组成部分和主要的商业资源。该项目将提供高中、本科、研究生和研究生级别的培训，并为广大受众开发教育材料，包括在STEM领域代表性不足的受众。外联活动包括为密歇根大学的高中生提供一个模块，在三个博物馆举办的方案，每年的参观人数超过50万，以及供当地社区使用的资源。这项工作将探讨泥盆纪/石炭纪灭绝（359马）在沉淀放线菌之间的多样性明显爆炸的作用，设置该集团的优势在整个剩余的中生代的阶段。该项目将结合联合收割机、功能解剖学、3D形态测量学、综合证据系统发育推断以及泥盆纪和石炭纪（419-299 Ma）放线菌的进化比较方法。项目小组将：（i）量化离散的功能创新，生物力学和形状的下颌骨，以测试增加的功能和形态多样性后，大规模灭绝;（ii）整合解剖，地层和分子数据在贝叶斯框架，以发展一个包容性的早期radiopterygian关系的假设和测试假设的时间进化分歧和模式的生存跨越灭绝边界;和（iii）结合联合收割机功能和形态数据与新的系统发育假说在一个比较框架内，以测试在进化速度和模式之间的变化与泥盆纪/石炭纪灭绝的放线菌。

Ancient mass extinctions resulted in the loss of many species but also provided new opportunities for surviving groups. Study of these events is central to both understanding the origin of today's biological diversity as well as contextualizing the threats it faces from environmental change. This work focuses on a major interval of crisis and recovery that took place around 360 million years ago: the Devonian/Carboniferous extinction. This study will determine the impact of this event on the early history of ray-finned fishes, key components of today's aquatic ecosystems and a major commercial resource. The project will provide training at high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels, and develop educational materials for wide audiences, including those underrepresented in STEM fields. Outreach includes a module for high-school students at the University of Michigan, programs at three museums with a combined annual attendance of greater than 500,000, and resources for use in local communities. This work will examine the role of the Devonian/Carboniferous extinction (359 Ma) in precipitating an apparent explosion of diversity among actinopterygians, setting the stage for the group's dominance throughout the remainder of the Phanerozoic. The project will combine microCT, functional anatomy, 3D morphometrics, combined-evidence phylogenetic inference, and evolutionary comparative methods to Devonian and Carboniferous (419-299 Ma) actinopterygians. The project team will: (i) quantify discrete functional innovations, biomechanics, and shape for mandibles to test for increased functional and morphological diversity following a mass extinction; (ii) integrate anatomical, stratigraphic, and molecular data in a Bayesian framework to develop an inclusive hypothesis of early actinopterygian relationships and test hypotheses about the timing of evolutionary divergences and patterns of survival across the extinction boundary; and (iii) combine functional and morphological data with new phylogenetic hypotheses within a comparative framework in to test for shifts in evolutionary rate and mode among actinopterygians associated with the Devonian/Carboniferous extinction.