CAREER: A comparative study of two trilobite diversification events to advance understanding of early animal evolution.

American Museum Natural History, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Almost all major groups of living animals first appeared in the fossil record around the same time in the geologic past. This was a time period of high diversification and major shifts in the global ecosystem. The trilobite arthropods were a major component of these early marine ecosystems and are well preserved in the fossil record, providing an excellent system for studying the processes that drove diversification during this time period. Specifically, this project will use the trilobite fossil record to test long-standing hypotheses about the relative importance of development and ecology in determining diversification rates during one of the most critical times periods in the evolution of animals on Earth. This project also advances Earth Science training for middle and high school students and teachers from high-needs schools across New York State. This initiative will provide innovative field experiences for teachers, support in the development of teaching collections and interactive classroom activities, and immersive museum visits for teachers and their students. The project will compare two major diversification events in the Cambrian and Ordovician in order to examine diversification rates and to understand the roles of development and ecology in driving the evolution of trilobites. The PI and collaborators will leverage new analytical approaches for identifying important evolutionary traits and use cutting-edge methods for building time-scaled trees that incorporate uncertainty. A major outcome of the project will be a time-scaled, trilobite evolutionary tree based on a data-rich trait matrix, which also will provide a future roadmap for investigating a myriad of questions about the role of biogeography, trends, and growth patterns in trait evolution and diversification. In addition, the project will bring together an international group of trilobite experts to develop common traits and nomenclature for studying trilobite groups. 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.