NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Tempo and mode in the abyss: evolution following colonization of the deep sea

Miller, Elizabeth Christina, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Fish entered the deep sea many times from shallow habitats, where most marine life on Earth lives. It has long been thought that evolution proceeds slowly in the cold and dark environment of the deep sea (defined as below 200 meters). In conflict with this view, however, many deep-sea families have a surprising diversity of species and body forms. By combining a family history of shallow and deep fish lineages with 3-D scans of fish specimens, the fellow will understand how quickly deep-sea forms evolved relative to the pace of evolution in their shallow relatives. This project has the potential to transform our understanding of the formation of biodiversity in the world's oceans. The project will integrate diverse data types including time-calibrated molecular phylogenies, palaeoceanographic proxy data for past oceanic conditions, and 3-D scans of preserved fish specimens. The first objective is to reconstruct ancestral depth and habitat types on a large phylogeny of all ray-finned fishes. This will allow the fellow to identify the number and timing of all known transitions to the deep sea, as well as possible conditions that favor such transitions such as life habits or oceanographic conditions. Broad-scale analyses across fishes will be paired with detailed investigations within three focal groups of varying ages with both shallow and deep members (lizardfishes, anglerfishes, and snailfishes). The fellow will collect 3-D microcomputed tomography scans to analyze the rate and direction of body shape evolution following deep-sea transition. Towards this goal, a new phylogeny of the anglerfishes (Lophiiformes) will be constructed with unprecedented taxonomic sampling. This project will primarily utilize specimens and tissues housed at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, as well as scanning technology housed at Friday Harbor Laboratories. The fellow will gain training in the use of modern technology and approaches for studying the evolution of morphology in a phylogenetic framework. In addition, the 3-D scans will become publicly available, and will be used in K-12, undergraduate, and public outreach educational materials. 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.