Spider evolutionary radiations and phyloinformatics

系统发育是生命的大规模遗传历史，因为它已经多样化了数百万年。进化生物学家试图重建这段历史，因为它对理解生物多样性和形成生物多样性的进化过程有价值。我的实验室为解释系统发育历史提供了广泛适用的分析方法，并着重于咸水蜘蛛的系统发育和进化。首先，我们建议收集来自世界各地的盐化蜘蛛的数据来重建它们的遗传历史。我们将利用这段历史来研究这一群体的身体形态和生态进化模式，通过这些模式，我们可以确定它们平行的进化多样化是如何可预测的，还是受到历史的限制和偶然的影响。这项工作还将发现和记录许多科学上的新物种。其次，我们将推断出一组具有复杂交配行为的北美盐蜘蛛的详细系统发育。这将使我们能够评估它们历史上杂交的程度及其与行为进化和性选择的关系。第三，我们将建立新的统计方法和计算基础设施，以广泛支持进化研究，包括评估系统发育相关性和管理数据工作流程的新方法。培养理论生物学和生物信息学、DNA测序和数据分析、生物野外工作、节肢动物生物多样性研究等方面的高素质人才。

Phylogeny is the broad-scale genetic history of life as it has diversified over millions of years. Evolutionary biologists seek to reconstruct this history for its value in understanding biodiversity and the evolutionary processes that shaped it. My laboratory contributes broadly-applicable analytical methods for interpreting phylogenetic history, and focuses empirically on the phylogeny and evolution of salticid spiders. First, we propose to gather data from salticid spiders worldwide to reconstruct their genetic history. We will use this history to study patterns in the evolution of body form and ecology in this group, by which we can determine how predictable were their parallel evolutionary diversifications, versus constrained by history and affected by chance. This work will also discover and document many species new to science. Second, we will infer a detailed phylogeny of a group of North American salticid spiders with complex mating behaviours. This will enable us to assess the extent of hybridization in their history and its relationship to behavioural evolution and sexual selection. Third, we will build new statistical methods and computational infrastructure to support evolutionary studies broadly, including new methods to assess phylogenetic correlation and to manage data workflows. We will train highly qualified personnel in theoretical biology and bioinformatics, DNA sequencing and data analysis, biological field work, and arthropod biodiversity studies.