Army ants, some of the most striking organisms, are found in warm temperate and tropical regions of the world. They are the most important invertebrate predators of the tropics, making them key species in rainforest ecosystems. This research will reconstruct the evolutionary history of army ants and their close relatives. The family tree of these ants, their geographic origins and the timeline of the evolution of traits that account for their ecological dominance will be investigated. An evolutionary tree will be constructed from the ants DNA using latest advances in molecular biology and bioinformatics. This tree will then serve as a framework for testing hypotheses on the evolution of army ant characteristics. This study will also provide a new framework for identification of army ants and closely related species.
This project will not only bring insights into the history of an ecologically important group of insects but also help to understand how the latest advances in molecular biology, statistics and computer science can improve our knowledge of evolutionary processes. New resources allowing easier and more accurate identification of these ants will aid other biologists and conservation specialists in decision making and planning further research on the group. A class on techniques in computational biology will be taught, promoting skills in efficient analysis of the ever-increasing volume of biological data.
