| Summary: | Metadata record for data from AAS (ASAC) project 3010. Public Pycnogonids are primitive, bizarre arthropods. Found worldwide, Antarctic pycnogonids are the most diverse, abundant, and include some of the most spectacular forms. Near 250 species from the region are known, many in need for taxonomic revision, and more species new to science likely to be found. This project will document diversity of pycnogonids and target widely distributed species to obtain morphological, genetic and ecological information on distribution patterns and evolutionary history. This combined approach should provide a better insight of the roles of sea spiders in Antarctic biodiversity and the evolution and radiation of Antarctic marine benthic fauna. Project objectives: 1. To document the diversity of Australian Antarctic pycnogonids at species level and to target species with potential to investigate ecological interactions, zoogeographical patterns and genetic variability. 2. To examine connectivity patterns and genetic differentiation in populations of target species of pycnogonids across large spatial scales inferring diversification processes and possibly speciation rates. 3. To investigate the distribution patterns and possible mechanisms of dispersal of species with apparent wide distributions (e.g. circumpolar distribution, Antarctic -Pacific distribution and Antarctic-Arctic), based on molecular tools. 4. To explore how sea spiders fit evolutionary models testing the origin of deep sea fauna and proposing hypothesis for colonisation mechanisms and radiation processes, as many pycnogonid taxa from the deep sea are also represented on the continental shelf. 5. To resolve phylogenetic questions regarding the affinities among Antarctic species and lower latitude species to understand the evolutionary history of a highly diverse and cosmopolitan lineage (Callipallenidae-Nymphonidae). Details from previous years are available for download from the provided URL. Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Objective 1 - During this ...
|
|---|