CAREER: Phylogenetic tools for studying phenotypic diversification in the tree of life

University Of Massachusetts Boston, Dorchester MA

Investigators

Abstract

CAREER: Phylogenetic tools for studying phenotypic diversification in the tree of life The history of life unfolds through a single, enormous, tree of life. The twigs are individual species (both living and extinct), while the limbs and branches represent the long-passed ancestors of species that exist today. Considerable effort has been dedicated to elucidating the coarse and fine structure of this tree in many major plant, animal, fungi, and microbial groups over the past fifty years. Phylogenetic comparative methods use these genealogical trees, combined with trait data for species, to make statistically based inferences about the nature of evolution over the geological time. Phylogenetic comparative biology is a computer-intensive field, and this award will support research to develop a new computational toolkit to address several of the biggest challenges within this field. Specifically, this award supports the development of new computer-based approaches for visualizing trait evolution on trees; new methods to integrate tree estimation and comparative inference; and new approaches to link micro-scale processes and macro-scale (phylogenetic) patterns on a tree. All of these tools will serve the ultimate goal of better understanding the process and history of life's evolution on Earth. Phylogenetic comparative analyses have become central in evolutionary biology over the past thirty years. This research will expand the methodological toolkit of comparative biology in critical areas, including addressing some of the new challenges of big data, and better linking micro- and macroevolution. This award will also support the training of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and the development of two different educational programs. The first is an annual macroevolutionary methods workshop targeting students from Latin America. The second is a workshop for young phylogeny-method developers. Both programs will target students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.