COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Graptolite Macroevolution: Phylogenetic Analysis and Testing Hypotheses of Directional Change

合作研究：笔石宏观进化：系统发育分析和方向变化的检验假设

• 批准号: 0106844
• 负责人: Daniel Goldman
• 金额: $ 11.71万
• 依托单位: University of Dayton
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-07-15 至 2006-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0106844&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Graptolite; Macroevolution; Phylogenetic

"Collaborative Research. Graptolite Macroevolution: Phylogenetic Analysisand Testing Hypotheses of Directional Change".Charles E. Mitchell and Daniel Goldman. One of the most contentious issues in evolutionary theory is the notion of progress. Some scientists have argued for a qualified expectation of progress in the evolution of major groups while others have argued that we should expect evolutionary histories that are dominantly non-progressive. Efforts to quantify evolutionary patterns have produced conflicting results. Thus, the question of whether natural selection leads to long-term progressive trends remains controversial and frustrating. The central goal of the proposed research is to determine if there were significant progressive evolutionary trends within a group of fossils called graptolites. Graptolites are a group of extinct marine organisms that flourished from approximately 505 to 310 million years ago. The graptolite fossil record offers an outstanding opportunity to make a rigorous test of directional evolution for two reasons. First, graptolite evolutionary patterns have long been used as textbook examples of progressive evolution. Secondly, the fossil record of graptolites is exceptionally good, and their temporal and biogeographic distributions have been intensively studied. The work proposed here is expected to contribute substantially to an increased understanding of the mechanisms of graptolite evolution and their pathways of descent. It is also expected that it will lead to improvements in the methods paleobiologists employ to study evolutionary pattern and process. Both of these outcomes are likely, it is thought, to positively effect the broader issue of testing the fossil record for evidence of progress in evolution and the means by which it might occur.

“协作研究。Graptolite宏观进化：系统发育分析和测试定向变化的假设”。CharlesE. Mitchell和Daniel Goldman。进化论中最有争议的问题之一是进步的概念。一些科学家认为，在主要群体进化中进步的合格期望，而另一些科学家则认为我们应该期望进化的历史主要是非促进的。量化进化模式的努力产生了矛盾的结果。因此，自然选择是否导致长期渐进趋势的问题仍然存在争议和令人沮丧。拟议研究的核心目标是确定一组称为Graptolites的化石中是否存在明显的进行性进化趋势。 Graptolites是一群灭绝的海洋生物，在大约505到3.1亿年前蓬勃发展。 Graptolite化石记录提供了一个很棒的机会，可以对方向发展进行严格的测试，原因有两个。首先，长期以来，Graptolite进化模式被用作进行性进化的教科书示例。其次，Graptolites的化石记录异常好，并且对它们的时间和生物地理分布进行了深入研究。 预计此处提出的工作将有助于增加对Graptolite进化机制及其下降途径的理解。还可以预期，它将改善古生物学家在研究进化模式和过程中采用的方法。人们认为，这两种结果都可能对检验化石记录的更广泛的问题进行积极影响，以证明进化进展的证据及其可能发生的手段。