DISSERTATION RESEARCH: How Ecological, Behavioral, and Morphological Traits have Shaped Diversification Patterns in Assassin Spiders

论文研究：生态、行为和形态特征如何塑造刺客蜘蛛的多样化模式

• 批准号: 0909800
• 负责人: Rosemary Gillespie
• 金额: $ 1.47万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0909800&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; How; Ecological; Behavioral

Assassin spiders have an enigmatic distribution where numerous extinct fossil lineages are known only from the northern hemisphere and with all living species being restricted to the southern hemisphere. This distribution could have arisen if the spiders were once widespread and now only exist as survivors in small habitat patches on isolated continents. Alternatively, it could be that this distribution is a result of continental breakup or ancient dispersal. This study seeks to determine the evolutionary relationship between living and extinct species, which will enhance understanding of biogeographic and evolutionary history. Morphological characters of fossil species will be examined using X-ray scanning techniques with the purpose of placing fossil species into a phylogeny, a branching diagram of evolutionary relationships. The current study makes use of a unique opportunity to study a lineage of spiders with extinct and living species, which includes species radiations that appear to have arisen at very different periods of time and across multiple continents. The study will allow assessment of morphological characteristics of fossil lineages and will examine whether these characteristics can be used to understand past behaviors in extinct taxa. These discoveries may then be compared to patterns in other extinct and living organisms to test whether the patterns are general for earth history. Results of this work will be used in displays at the California Academy of Sciences.

刺客蜘蛛的分布十分神秘，其中许多灭绝的化石谱系仅来自北半球，而所有现存物种都仅限于南半球。如果蜘蛛曾经广泛分布，现在只作为幸存者存在于孤立的大陆上的小栖息地中，那么这种分布就可能出现。 或者，这种分布可能是大陆分裂或古代扩散的结果。这项研究旨在确定现存物种和灭绝物种之间的进化关系，这将增强对生物地理和进化历史的理解。将使用 X 射线扫描技术检查化石物种的形态特征，目的是将化石物种置于系统发育（进化关系的分支图）中。目前的研究利用了一个独特的机会来研究已灭绝和现存物种的蜘蛛谱系，其中包括似乎在不同时期和跨多个大陆出现的物种辐射。该研究将评估化石谱系的形态特征，并将研究这些特征是否可用于了解灭绝类群过去的行为。 然后可以将这些发现与其他已灭绝和活生物体的模式进行比较，以测试这些模式是否适用于地球历史。这项工作的结果将用于在加州科学院进行展示。