Abstract
This project is developed along three overlapping and interrelated lines of investigation: amphibian systematics, chemical defense, and ecology and conservation biology. We will set up a cleanroom laboratory to obtain DNA sequences from historical museum specimens and will develop and implement procedures to obtain DNA sequences from a new set of 1041 nuclear DNA markers using next-generation sequencing methods. In addition to general studies of phenomic characters for phylogenetic analysis, we will study amphibian visual ecology and evolution, focusing especially on taxa that differ in key ecological traits, including diel activity and diet, and the changes the visual system undergoes during metamorphosis. We will also study the evolution of amphibian skin, focusing specifically on the morphology of glands used in breeding and chemical defense. A central analytical goal will be to understand the impact, relative to both method of DNA sequence alignment and phylogenetic optimality criterion, of comparatively small phenomic data partitions on the results of total evidence phylogenetic analyses when combined with much larger genomic data partitions. We will employ comparative and experimental approaches to document and explain variation in lipophilic alkaloid-based and tetrodotoxin-based chemical defenses at different temporal and spatial scales. Finally, we will install audio recording stations for long-term, continuous monitoring of anuran populations in stream, pond, and forest habitats within the Boracéia Biological Station, enabling us to quantify diel, seasonal, annual, and long-term variation in amphibian activity at each site. (AU)
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