This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Cephalopods (such as squids and octopuses) are among the most intelligent invertebrate animals. They act as important mid-level predators in marine ecosystems and support valuable commercial fisheries. As global ocean temperatures continue to increase, fish populations are declining but cephalopod populations appear to be increasing. Today fishes are far more diverse than cephalopods; there are approximately 33,000 species of fish compared to about 700 species of cephalopods. However, prior to the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction, which wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs, cephalopods were substantially more diverse. This suggests that an understanding of ancient interactions could aid models of future ecosystems as marine temperatures continue to increase and cephalopods radiate. In order to study these extinct ecological changes, it is necessary to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cephalopods through time. This research will primarily investigate the interrelationships of fossil and living cephalopods. In doing so, it will incorporate museum educational activities that serve a diverse group of middle/high school students in New York.
The investigation will include representatives from the Cephalopoda. Phylogenetic trees will be inferred in a Bayesian framework under the fossilized birth-death range process, incorporating morphological characters and stratigraphic ranges for all taxa and genomic sequences for extant members. Paleozoic nautiloids encompass the lineages that preserve the sequence of character acquisition approaching crown cephalopods, so a primary goal is to elucidate their interrelationships. The first comprehensive ammonoid phylogeny will also be inferred. This research will utilize fossils from the American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY) and the Yale Peabody Museum (New Haven, CT). Additionally, the research will involve the collection of new fossil materials from the Early Ordovician Tribes Hill Formation of New York and Vermont. The morphology of internal anatomical structures will be examined through microCT imaging at the American Museum and will generate publicly available models online. The Fellow will have training in invertebrate paleontological field work and gain experience with new quantitative methods that will benefit the creation of a valuable framework for further macroevolutionary study of living and extinct cephalopods. The results, communicated through museum displays, local K-12 school partnerships, and digital materials, will help increase public understanding of evolutionary biology and the interplay between environmental and biological change through time.
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.
