9707225 Flynn The Carnivora (Mammalia) are an extremely important group for biological studies for several reasons, including (i) occurrence in all land masses except Antarctica, (ii) position as keystone predators in a variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, (iii) possession of a broad variety of well-documented behavioral (including social), feeding, and other (often unique) adaptations, and (iv) an extensive fossil record. Investigators John Flynn and Michael Nedbal will examine a large suite of new, high-quality cranial and postcranial characters from fossil carnivorans to better determine the pattern and timing of radiation in early carnivoran groups - this will provide a critical framework from which diversification and genealogical relationships among modern carnivoran assemblages. Flynn and Nedbal also will acquire and examine about 125,000 base pairs of DNA sampled from roughly 30 representative carnivoran taxa. The DNA sequences will come from two genes encoded by the mitochondria and two genes encoded in the nucleus. The DNA sequences will provide an independent data source from which genealogical relationships among Carnivora will be inferred. Finally, Flynn and Nedbal will map each gene sequence onto the best-supported genealogies in order to test hypotheses of molecular change. Specifically, they will examine the issue of whether molecular change occurs more-or-less homogeneously through time (the "molecular-clock" theory) or whether change is episodic. Results from the study will have far-reaching implications relative to the processes and patterns of carnivoran and molecular diversification.
