Mark W. Westneat - US grants

9318129 Biewener Accurate imaging of animal movements underlies studies of the neuromuscular control of animal movement and the biomechanics and hydrodynamics of animal function. Quantitative kinematic analyses of the movements of animal segments or of the animal itself can be related to simultaneous recordings of nerve firing, muscle activation, force generation and shortening, skeletal strain, or to visualization of flow patterns through or around the animal. Often, and especially for small animals, these movements occur at very rapid rates and over short time intervals. To record these rapid movements with reasonable time resolution can require imaging rates of greater than 1000 Hz. High-speed film analysis represents a central component of the P.I.'s and the three Co-P.I's research. For many years, we have carried out such studies by relying on 16 mm film recording and analysis to obtain imaging rates as high as 500 frames sec-1. Recent developments in high speed videography now make it possible to obtain even higher imaging rates using a video based recording and analysis system. This proposal therefore requests funds to purchase a high-speed video system to be installed as a multi-user facility within the Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy at the University of Chicago. The equipment that we seek to purchase is a Kodak Ektapro EM 1012 Motion Analyzer System, equipped with an intensified imaging camera and analysis workstation. This system is capable of obtaining 1000 full frames sec-l under low light conditions, yielding excellent depth of field (essential to reliable monitoring of animal movement patterns). By partitioning the memory area onto which each frame is mapped, practical imaging rates of up to 6000 images sec-1 can be obtained. This system is state-of-the-art and is likely to remain so for many years. The Kodak Ektapro and competitive systems have been recently acquired by other labs working in these areas of biology. To remain competit ive with these groups and to provide a resource that will attract students who wish to pursue graduate training in biomechanics and neuromuscular biology, we believe that it is essential that we obtain such a system. While the cost of the system is too high to justify on a single investigator proposal, it is appropriate for use as a shared facility. This system is ideal for short-term, intensive use by an investigator/lab group (1 to 2 weeks), during which time considerable kinematic data can be recorded and later analyzed in the investigator's own lab after downloading the digitized image files onto removable high-density disk media. Our goal is to not only share this high-speed video system among each of our labs, but to make it available to students and research faculty in other units within the University. We also envision limited access by persons outside the University. The P.I. will oversee scheduling, use and maintenance of the equipment.

9407253 Westneat This project explores the engineering design and evolution of swimming in fishes. This research asks two general questions: What is the engineering design of propulsion systems in fishes in terms of the skeleton, muscles, and tendons? And what patterns of change have occurred in the design of fishes' bodies throughout evolutionary history? The approach used to address these questions is a combination of anatomy, video analysis, computer modeling, and modern techniques of studying evolution. This combined approach will reveal the mechanics and history of two locomotor systems in fishes: side-to-side locomotion by the tail and the rowing mode of propulsion with the paired fins. The fishes to be studied in this project are fishes of the family Labridae, which are one of the most diverse species radiations in the oceans of the world. Labrid fishes use multiple locomotor strategies, and they vary in their use of drag-based and lift-based fin locomotion. A central goal of this research is to develop and test computer models of the mechanics (transmission of force and motion) of the swimming behavior of fishes. Computer models will use data on anatomical design to establish the geometric relations between muscle contractions and transmission of force to the fins that cause forward thrust. These prediction are tested by measuring swimming in live fishes using high-speed video analysis. The significance of this research is that it will design features of aquatic locomotion for which no complete mechanical understanding exists. Mechanical testing of fish swimming may provide practical information for application to bio-engineering. Labrid fishes are indicators of biodiversity on tropical coral reefs, and further understanding of their behavior and function will contribute to our knowledge of high diversity ecosystems. this project will culminate by tracing the evolutionary changes in locomotor mechanics onto hypotheses of labrid evolutio n. ***

9407568 Westneat The collection of fishers at the Field Museum of Natural History contains more than 1.7 million specimens in about 125,000 lots representing more than 9,000 species and 320 families. The Collection and its supporting facilities are recognized as an International Center of Ichthyology. The fish collection serves as a major depository for historically important collections, including type specimens for more than 1,420 nominal species, the collection is world-wide in scope and in recent years has been enriched by the addition of major collections from South America, the Western Atlantic Ocean, and the Western Pacific Ocean. Many of these collections come from previously unsampled localities and may never be duplicated. The holding of the collection are extensively used both nationally and internationally. They constitute an important source of primary research materials for professional scientists and students engaged in the studies of systematics, biodiversity, morphology, molecular genetics, and conservation biology. The accessibility and exchange of information regarding the holdings of natural history collections are critical to both basic and applied research. Therefore, the institution is engaged in a long-range plan to create and manage an accurate computerized database containing the records of all fish specimens housed in the FMNH collections. This plan consists of three major stages: (1) data entry and proofing, (2) verification of computer records and holdings, and (3) cataloging and shelving of our enormous backlog. The initial state of data entry into the database software system MUSE has bee completed. Updated of the computer records and verification of their accuracy must be continued. This project will support the second major stage of establishing the database for our collection: verification of the accuracy of all computer records by comparing the computer records with the physical holdings of the collection. The hardware of the local area compu ter network will be upgraded to increase the speed of retrieval of information, and bring the system closer to the goal of connection with the Internet computer network. At the conclusion of the project period, the FMNH fish collection records will be among the most accurate specimen databases available and will be accessible to biological researchers worldwide.

Westneat 9701345 This study will elucidate major evolutionary patterns in the functional morphology and hydrodynamics of locomotion in a diverse monophyletic group of reef fish: the triggerfishes and filefishes (Superfamily Balistoidea). Data on the fin morphology, 3-D stroke kinematics, and hydrodynamics of a taxonomically broad sample of these fish will be collected and analyzed within the framework of general mechanical predictions and tuo theoretical hydrodynamic models applicable to long-based paired fin propulsion. Objectives include: (1) assessing the strength of a widely assumed but untested correlation of fin shape and kinematic profile; (2) testing the theoretical advantages proposed for swimmers with long, narrow fins and deep, rigidly held bodies; (3) determining which of the two hydrodynamic models yields better estimates of mean thrust; and (4) examining predictions from simple lever mechanics and muscle architecture. The study, the first in aquatic locomotion to consider detailed form and kinematic data in a regorous phylogenetic framework, will narow the traditional gulf between functional studies that ignore the influence of common ancestry and evolutionary studies that fail to acknowledge biomechanical and hydrodynamic principles and contraints. The study will explore novel mechanisms of thrust with potential applications in underwater propulsion technology.

9815614
Westneat

Fishes of the family Labridae are a diverse group of over 600 species that live on coral reefs throughout the world. The abundance of labrids makes them an integral part of the ecology of reef systems as well as an important economic resource. Although the biology of labrids has been the subject of intensive research, little is known about their ancestor-descendant relationships. This proposal requests support for a study of the historical relationships among the Labridae using both structural and molecular characters. The central objectives of this study are (1) to resolve relationships among major groups of fishes in the family Labridae; and (2) to integrate patterns of relatedness among species with information on locomotor and feeding mechanisms.
This study focuses on anatomical study of new fish species and anatomical regions. The sequence of nucleotides in DNA is a popular and now easily obtained set of characters that can be used for genealogical analysis, and complete sequence data from the genes cytochrome b and 12S rRNA will be obtained. This project will provide a comparison of anatomical and molecular data for a theory of species relationships using multiple data sets.
This research will use the phylogeny of the Labridae to understand major features of the feeding and locomotor systems of these fishes. The biodiversity found within this group is reflected in their exploitation of a wide range of feeding and locomotor behaviors. The structure and function of the jaws in labrids mirrors the ecological diversity of feeding on many types of prey. Locomotion is accomplished by using the pectoral fins to row or fly through the water with a wide range of fin structures and swimming performance. Phylogenetic studies proposed here provide the framework for interpretation of function and ecology in one of the largest, most diverse fish families in the world.
This project is significant to the field of biology due to its contribution of new phylogenetic information on a large group of important fishes. The research provides a starting point for the study of genealogy among more than 10% of living fishes. Of broader significance is the use of phylogenetic trees to interpret patterns of change in structural and functional characters. The movement toward an integrated understanding of biological structure and function, from tissues to whole organisms, is one of the major frontiers of biology. This work contributes to that goal by providing a phylogenetic framework for studies of labrid ecology, biomechanics, behavior, and evolution. Finally, this study makes a significant educational contribution as it involves students in research at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels.

Dissertation Research: Evolution, development and functional morphology of damselfish oral jaws.

Mark W. Westneat and W. James Cooper
The Field Museum of Natural History and The University of Chicago

The evolution of new anatomical arrangements and novel functional abilities involves alterations in how physical structures form during development. Understanding the evolution of vertebrate feeding therefore requires examination of the developmental changes that have produced skulls with different biomechanical abilities. For marine fishes such as damselfishes (Pomacentridae: Labroidei), evolutionary changes in skull development have functional consequences for feeding larvae and juveniles. This research will employ a combination of shape analyses, gene expression studies and biomechanical modeling to describe developmental changes in the shape and function of the skulls of damselfishes, a numerically dominant component of coral reef fish faunas. A detailed examination of adult skulls from all damselfish genera will provide the initial framework for determining how developmental changes have contributed to damselfish morphological and functional evolution. By combining the results of shape analyses with computer models capable of predicting the biomechanical abilities of fish jaws (e.g. bite force, biting speed, degree of jaw protrusion) we will be able to describe the connection between skull shape diversity and oral jaw functional diversity within this fish family. Several damselfish species will then be bred in captivity so that their embryos may be collected for developmental study. Examination of embryonic gene expression patterns will permit testing of the hypothesis that differences in the location and timing of expression of selected regulatory genes are correlated with differences in adult damselfish jaw morphology and functional abilities. Embryos of the false clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris), the spine-cheek anemonefish (Premnas biaculeatus) and the Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicunda) have already been collected for this purpose. Hatched larvae of these species (and potentially other species as well) will also be reared through successive larval and juvenile stages in order to track changes in skull shape and biomechanical ability throughout development. Aspects of the proposed research have been, and will continue to be, incorporated into public school courses through collaboration with a local teacher.

Fishes of the family Labridae are a diverse group of nearly 600 species that inhabit tropical and temperate marine waters throughout the world and constitute a major segment of the diversity found on coral reefs. Advances in our understanding of the labrid family tree and study of the biomechanics of feeding behavior will allow exploration of evolution in coral reef fishes.
The first goal of this project is to collect new DNA sequence data for several species groups within the Labridae. With previous NSF support, a family tree for the Labridae was generated using data for 115 species. Resolution of phylogenetic relationships on this tree was excellent based on four genes from different parts of the cell (2 each from the mitochondrion and the nucleus). However several large species groups remain unresolved. In this project, sequences of genes that are appropriate for species-level questions will be obtained for 120 additional taxa. In addition, this project will investigate two genes involved in early growth and development of fish skulls. These include Otx1, a gene that plays a role in head growth and Dlx2, a gene involved in both lower jaw formation and tooth development. Sequences for these genes will be collected in 50 species, having diverse skull structures and jaw anatomy. Thus, this study will provide new information from many species and many genes, some of which have known regulatory involvement in building a key part of the animal, the skull.
The second objective of the proposal is to combine evolutionary trees with concepts from engineering design and knowledge of feeding behavior to study skull function. Specific hypotheses of evolutionary convergence will be tested to determine whether the same engineering solution has been achieved multiple times in the history of the group. The extreme modifications of jaws and skull found in this family make them a model system for evolution in cranial structure and function. Biomechanical engineering models allow calculation of basic feeding mechanics such as jaw closing force and speed, and jaw protrusion. Biomechanical models, generated as physical constructs and computer models, are useful for research and education. Combining evolution with function in many species, this project will examine evolutionary change in the biomechanics of one of the most diverse radiations of vertebrates on Earth. The movement toward an integrated understanding of biological structure and function, from genes to tissues to whole organisms, is one of the major frontiers of biology. This project contributes to that goal by testing specific hypotheses of functional evolution using molecular phylogenies and engineering concepts.
This project contributes to education, training, exhibits, and research infrastructure in many ways. The Principal Investigator teaches undergraduate courses at the University of Chicago and lab exercises are held each year in the collections of the Field Museum. Students at the college, graduate, and postdoctoral levels are involved with all aspects of the proposed research, including sequencing, analysis, and biomechanics. Collaborations are underway with people from Austria, Australia, Chile, Kenya, Madagascar, New Zealand, The Philippines, and Thailand. Museum exhibits are now on display that feature models of fish head function developed from NSF-funded research, and exhibits are planned to feature both phylogenetic and functional research at the Field Museum. The PI gives museum lectures, has spoken on public radio, visits local schools, and presents coral reef fish biology to groups such as Elder Hostel and Rotary in the Chicago area. Physical and computer models of animal function featured in this proposal are fantastic tools for classroom education, research training, and museum exhibits.

Non-technical abstract: Dissertation Research: Morphological
diversification of anostomimorph and curimatimorph fishes.

Why is biodiversity distributed unequally across the tree-of-life? Some
groups of species have evolved extraordinary anatomical variation while
other groups contain many species that look and act similar. To begin to
understand how and why the general phenomenon of unequal diversification
occurs, this research will investigate how and why a specific lineage of
South American fishes related to piranhas and tetras evolved an anatomical
diversity very much greater than that of the lineage of its closest
relatives. This case study is rare and valuable because it approximates a
naturally controlled experiment. Because the two groups of fishes contain
equal numbers of species, share a recent common ancestor (and therefore
began to evolve independently at the same time) and live together
throughout tropical South America, the differences in their diversities
cannot be explained by differences in net speciation rate, age, or
environmental effects. The removal of these factors leaves at least two
potential explanations of the observed differences in diversity. The
differences may be due to random evolution, or an intrinsic feature of
anatomy or ecology shared only by the more diverse group may promote the
evolution of new morphologies. This research program will investigate
these two alternatives by 1) using a detailed anatomical study to
reconstruct the genealogical relationships, or "trees-of-life" for these
fishes, 2) measuring the anatomical differences between these species from
an extensive series of x-ray images and 3) performing a novel analysis that
combines the measurements of anatomical differences and trees-of-life with
computer simulations of evolution. This analysis will test whether
diversities as different as those observed could have evolved randomly. If
the analysis were to reject the hypothesis of random evolution, then it
would be likely that an intrinsic difference drove one group to diversify
greatly while the other did not. If the second alternative is supported,
this project will identify the anatomical and ecological features most
likely to have catalyzed the evolution of novelties in the more diverse
group. Future studies can then test whether the evolution of similar
properties in other groups of organisms generally promotes the genesis and
maintenance of biodiversity.

In a broad sense, this study will help reveal why biodiversity is not
distributed equally across the tree-of-life for all organisms. The methods
developed for use in this project are transferable to studies of a wide
variety of other organisms and will be made freely available via the
Internet. This project will also promote international collaboration on the
study of an important group of tropical fishes valued as food throughout
South America, prized for their ornamental beauty worldwide and that serve
important ecological roles as part of the most species-rich freshwater fish
fauna in the world. Current and potential collaborations include work on
the discovery and description of new species, the building of natural
history collections in the United States and in South America, and
conservation biology. Results from this work also fuel a continuing
dialogue about biodiversity with students and museum visitors through a
series of exhibits and public presentations.

A grant has been awarded to the Field Museum of Natural History under the direction of Dr. Mark Westneat to study the evolution the diverse community of coral reef fishes and their skeletal structure. Coral reefs are centers of marine biodiversity where millions of species coexist. Reef fishes are a major component of the animal life in these habitats in terms of species number, economic resources, and the colorful, moving beauty of a living reef. The reef fish evolutionary tree, or phylogenetic history, depicting the diversification of these fish over time is largely unresolved. In addition, there is much that we have to learn about the way reef fishes feed, survive and coexist in the complex ecology of coral reefs. This project combines novel DNA information to examine the evolutionary tree of large groups of coral reef fishes with studies of how fish species feed to explore evolution in one of the most diverse species radiations on Earth.
The main objective of this grant is to understand the evolution of coral reef biodiversity, and to do that we need DNA data on hundreds of species. By using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear genes, including genes that play a role in embryological development (for a total of 10 different genes), this project will analyze a total of 648 species of fishes to understand their phylogenetic history and use this family tree to explore evolutionary patterns in reef fishes. The second objective of the proposal is to combine phylogenetic research with engineering features of fish skulls to reveal patterns of evolutionary biomechanics. Engineering models of skull function link the variation in skull anatomy to feeding mechanics such as bite force, gape speed, and jaw protrusion, giving us a better understanding of how animals function in the reef habitat.
For a broader audience, this project contributes to museum collections, education, and exhibits. Students at the college, graduate, and postdoctoral levels are involved with all aspects of the proposed research, including sequencing, analysis, and presentation. International collaborations are underway with people from Austria, Australia, Chile, Kenya, Madagascar, New Zealand, The Philippines, and Thailand. A new museum exhibit at the Field Museum highlights the genetic research proposed here. This research will be incorporated into the new Encyclopedia of Life project through initiatives coordinated by the Biodiversity Synthesis Center at the Field Museum in Chicago.

An award is made to use computing technology developed in connection with previous NSF support to collaboratively geospatially reference, a.k.a. georeference, (i.e., determine latitude and longitude coordinates for) the estimated two million ungeoreferenced fish species occurrence records currently in the now greatly enhanced and soon to be expanded Fishnet2 network of fish collection databases (http://www.fishnet2.net/). The records will be georeferenced using the Community Georeferencing System of the GEOLocate software platform based at Tulane University (http://www.museum.tulane.edu/geolocate/). Each coordinate determination will include a new polygon method for describing uncertainty, which will be compared to the more traditional point-radius-based uncertainties currently in wide use to inform best practices in future georeferencing projects. Experiments in crowd sourcing will also be performed on subset of the georeferenced work at Tulane as an education and outreach activity involving local high school students and Tulane undergraduates.

Georeferencing natural history collection data is a critical step in a process of mobilizing biodiversity data that starts with digitizing collection records, continues through databasing and networking, and ultimately gives researchers remote access to the vast specimen and data resources of natural history museums. Having access to georeferenced specimen occurrence data allows researchers to address important scientific and societal questions in areas such as endangered species conservation, environmental restoration, and preparing for global climate change. The resource of georeferenced locality records provided by this project will serve several purposes, beyond its usefulness to the fish collection community. It can be used for georeferencing data for other groups of organisms, especially aquatic organisms, which were likely sampled at many of the same access points (e.g., in rivers near bridge crossings) or at the same time as many of the fish specimens. This project will reult in a compiled gazetteer of all georeferenced localities that is available to other collection digitization projects, including projects in the Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC) program. The resource of georeferenced collection localities created through this project will also serve the fish collection and broader natural history collection community as a resource for cleaning taxonomic data, thanks to the map visualization of data it supports. Mapping specimen occurrences makes it easier for taxonomic experts to detect errors in specimen identity and distribution, resulting in more accurate taxonomic and geographic data. The education and outreach activities of this project will specifically target underrepresented minorities from New Orleans area schools in an effort to increase minority participation in natural history collection based research.

In animals, normal limb movements such as walking or reaching require sensory information from the limb regarding their movements and mechanics. While fishes use their limbs (or paired fins) for a diverse array of behaviors, little is known about the role sensory abilities plays in those functions. This project examines the fundamental question of how the sensory and motor elements of the fin propulsive system co-adapt to generate a functional neuromechanical system. In particular, it will determine how physical properties of the fins such as stiffness, size and shape, are reflected in the biological instrumentation of the fins for sensation. In addition to providing a new tractable model for studying integration of sensation and movement, data from this project will inform the design of fin-inspired propulsive devices for underwater vehicles. The broader impacts of this project will provide outreach experiences for children on the South Side of Chicago as well as opportunities for undergraduate and graduate training in the laboratory and builds educational activities at the Field Museum of Natural History.

An award is made to The University of Chicago to acquire and install a biplanar videofluoroscopy system that uses X-rays to measure 3-dimensional movements of the inside of animals through a method called X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology (XROMM). XROMM generates 3D measurements and animations of biological movement by integrating 3D movement data collected using bi-planar digital videofluoroscopy with CT scan-based reconstructions of animal anatomy. XROMM makes it possible to measure movements of internal skeletal elements to which external markers cannot be attached without disrupting animal function, to study internal mechanics of small animals, such as mice, rats, and songbirds which are too small for external markers, to study animals that will only behave in optically opaque environment, such as in the dark, under soil, in water and/or in structurally complex environments, and to image internal soft tissue structures, such as muscles. The ability to make these measurements will enhance and expand research and training in integrative and evolutionary biomechanics, neuromechanics and neuroscience in the Chicago area. In particular, XROMM will enable innovations in the following areas: (1) Comparisons of locomotion and feeding movements of fish and amphibians in complex aquatic and terrestrial environments, and their relationship to evolutionary changes in form at the origin of tetrapods,(2) the diversity, complexity and control of 3D jaw and tongue movements during feeding in living mammals, and their relationship to changes in the structure of the feeding system during the origin and radiation of mammals, and (3) the role of the brain in control of 3D movements of a range of musculoskeletal organs, including jaws, tongues, eye muscles, and hands.

This research equipment will have multiple impacts beyond research, including teaching and training, public outreach and exhibit development, robotics and applied biomechanics. The XROMM instrumentation will provide postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students with access to state-of-the-art research equipment in a dynamic intellectual environment that will make possible novel approaches to integrative analyses of animal movement. Graduate programs with access to XROMM will include: at the University of Chicago, the Graduate Program in Integrative Biology, the Committee on Evolutionary Biology, the Committee on Computational Neuroscience and the Committee on Medical Physics; at Northwestern University, the graduate programs in Biomedical Engineering, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Physiology; and the inter-institution, interdisciplinary NSF IGERT program, Integrative Training in Motor Control and Movement. Faculty and graduate students in these programs are actively involved in outreach locally (Sisters 4 Science; Global Village Science Project; Brain Day), and at national and international levels (Outreach programs in Fiji, New Guinea; Encyclopedia of Life Project; Biomechanics Exhibit, Field Museum of Natural History). The XROMM instrumentation will significantly augment these efforts by generating visually compelling animations of animal movement for presentation and online distribution. In making possible novel research into the role of the brain in control of movement, this equipment will contribute to understanding of motor control disorders including Parkinson's Disease and stroke.

The evolutionary relationships among species of animals, plants, fungi and microbes is a large, complex, branching network that biologists call the Tree of Life. Obtaining the complete Tree of Life for all living things is a grand challenge in science, on the same intellectual scale as investigating the nature of matter or the origin of the universe: it is fundamental to understanding our world, central to human sustainability, and critical as a framework for future discovery. Scientists have made major progress toward this challenge by combining biology with computer science and successfully generating large genealogies of thousands and even millions of species. These large phylogenetic trees are now available to researchers in many branches of biology -- from genomics to ecology -- and have great promise for applied science in medicine, agriculture, industry, and climate-change mitigation. It is critical that scientists develop a future vision for this area of scientific exploration and make clear the central role of phylogenetics in the strategic integration of biodiversity science across US academic, corporate and government institutions. To achieve this vision, this project has developed a three-year program of catalysis meetings and workshops to bring together and enlarge the Tree of Life community. By uniting a wide range of biologists, computational experts, and representatives from corporate entities, foundations, and government agencies, the meeting series will generate a mechanism for scientific input into the strategic vision of biodiversity science.

The workshops series will impact many areas of research involving biodiversity and evolution by addressing three over-arching goals: (1) identifying challenges and progress in generating, storing and visualizing the genealogy of life, (2) integrating large data layers with the tree of life, and (3) developing a clear plan and compelling vision for the future of phylogenetic biology. The workshops and catalysis meetings will include students and early-career scientists, as well as educators and members of key corporate, government and non-profit organizations, with the aim to create new, lasting partnerships that bridge across interest groups. Tangible products of the meetings will include educational materials, publications that highlight broader uses of Tree of Life as well as advances in software that will be open source and available to a wide audience. At completion of the workshop series the participants will produce a white paper discussing ideas and challenges for long-term sustainability of biodiversity data.

This project will develop and apply a unified framework for studying the evolution of all fishes, including lampreys, sharks, and the coral reef, deep sea and freshwater fishes. This work will illuminate the genealogical relationships (phylogeny), evolutionary timing, and mechanisms for the origin and maintenance of the world's diversity of fishes, including the most important food and aquarium fishes. The project will contribute to community-driven scientific efforts, to student training, to web content and application development, and to public outreach. All fish specimens, specimen and DNA data, and analytical results obtained will be made publicly available through a dynamic and open structure that complies with established standards to facilitate wide accessibility to the broader scientific and non-scientific communities. High school, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral student training are central activities for this project. Social media outreach and training will provide diverse professional development opportunities as well. A fish species identification application for smartphones based on image data (FishSnap) will be developed and made freely available to the public to allow accurate identification of selected groups of fishes. Outcomes of this project will form part of a new public exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History to highlight the value of specimen collections at natural history museums.

This integrative project will combine genomic, paleontological, anatomical, functional, ecological, and comparative approaches. The research team blends strengths in collections-based research on fishes, molecular and morphological phylogenetics, bioinformatics, and comparative analyses, allowing them to synthesize big data sets to resolve the phylogeny of all described fish species and conduct evolutionary analysis of key traits. Time-calibrated trees will be used to reveal diversification patterns of the major groups. Image analysis, morphometrics, and phenomic data will enable the discovery of evolutionary patterns in size, shape, and biomechanical function across thousands of species.