Collaborative Research: Convergent evolution and diversification of the crab body plan over 200 million years

合作研究：2亿年来蟹体计划的趋同进化和多样化

• 批准号: 1856667
• 负责人: Heather Bracken-Grissom
• 金额: $ 47.31万
• 依托单位: Florida International University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1856667&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Convergent; evolution; diversification

This project addresses a fundamental question in the study of life: can we predict the evolutionary success of animals based on their forms? Crabs are one of the most iconic groups of invertebrates, playing an integral role in aquarium trade, fisheries, and aquaculture, and are celebrated in cultures around the world through festivals and parades. This research aims to build the tree of life for all known living and fossil crab families, to investigate how these animals have changed over 200 million years of history. The typical body form that characterizes crabs has evolved separately several times from lobster-like ancestors, and also has been lost several times in different groups of crabs. The new crab tree of life will reveal whether the independent gains and losses of the crab shape predict the immense biodiversity and ecological versatility of the group. The inspiring diversity of crab form and function will engage high school students through museum activities, and undergraduate students in primary research and classroom modules incentivizing critical thinking. Fieldwork will be conducted in Panama, where a training course in tropical crab taxonomy will immerse US and Latin American scientists in the techniques used to expand and investigate the crab tree of life.The acquisition of a crab-like body form has evolved four to five times among decapod crustaceans, and has been proposed as a contributing factor to the immense diversification and ecological success within the infraorders Brachyura (7000 species of true crabs), and Anomura (2500 species including porcelain crabs, hermit crabs, and king crabs). The objectives of this project are: (1) To construct a well-supported backbone phylogeny for false and true crabs using genomic (extant) and morphological (extant and fossil) data. (2) To employ fossils as age calibrations to construct an evolutionary timeline; this will serve as the foundation for inferring the pattern and geological timing of crab body plan evolution. (3) To test if the rate of diversification has increased in crab-like lineages relative to their sister groups, and likewise has decreased when the crab-like body was secondarily lost. The researchers hypothesize that at least some traits comprise a possible key innovation. These objectives will be achieved by sequencing 500 crab species using target enrichment methods, morphological coding and imaging of living and fossil taxa (including representatives of all crab families), and the deployment of cutting-edge strategies for divergence time analysis and phylogenetic comparative methods.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.

该项目解决了生命研究中的一个基本问题：我们能否根据动物的形态来预测其进化的成功？螃蟹是最具标志性的无脊椎动物群体之一，在水族贸易、渔业和水产养殖中发挥着不可或缺的作用，并通过节日和游行在世界各地的文化中受到庆祝。这项研究旨在为所有已知的现存蟹科和化石蟹科建立生命树，以研究这些动物在 2 亿年的历史中如何发生变化。螃蟹的典型身体形态从类龙虾的祖先中分别进化了好几次，并且在不同的螃蟹类群中也多次消失。新的螃蟹生命树将揭示螃蟹形状的独立增益和损失是否预示着该群体巨大的生物多样性和生态多功能性。螃蟹形态和功能的鼓舞人心的多样性将吸引高中生参加博物馆活动，吸引本科生参加初级研究和课堂模块，激发批判性思维。实地考察将在巴拿马进行，热带螃蟹分类学培训课程将使美国和拉丁美洲的科学家沉浸在用于扩展和研究螃蟹生命树的技术中。类似螃蟹的身体形态的获得已经进化了四到五种是十足目甲壳类动物中的两倍，并被认为是短尾目（Brachyura）（7000种真正的蟹）和异目（Anomura）（2500种，包括瓷蟹、寄居蟹、帝王蟹）。该项目的目标是：（1）利用基因组（现存）和形态学（现存和化石）数据构建假蟹和真蟹的支持良好的主干系统发育。 （2）利用化石作为年龄校准，构建进化时间表；这将为推断蟹体平面演化的模式和地质时间奠定基础。 (3) 测试类蟹谱系相对于其姊妹类群的多样化率是否有所增加，以及当类蟹体二次丧失时是否同样会下降。研究人员推测，至少某些特征构成了可能的关键创新。这些目标将通过使用目标富集方法、活体和化石类群（包括所有蟹科的代表）的形态编码和成像，以及部署分歧时间分析和系统发育比较方法的尖端策略，对 500 个蟹类物种进行测序来实现。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。