Beetle Tree of Life Proposal: Description

Assembling the Beetle Tree of Life (BToL)

Project Description

People

Why Beetles?

Beetles comprise the largest single branch in the Tree of Life. Since they arose in the Lower Permian, they have undergone an explosive radiation into more than 350,000 species, or approximately one-quarter of described organisms. They collectively represent nearly every feeding habit among insects, from saprophagy, herbivory and predation to fungivory and parasitism. Though there are insect groups with more specialized habits, beetles probably have a larger impact on our forests and fields than any other insect group (except possibly ants!). Because of their species richness, beetles present an excellent context for evaluating correlates of diversity.

Reflecting in part their sheer numbers and enormous morphological diversity, few attempts have been made to reconstruct the phylogeny of beetles as a whole, leaving us with only marginal knowledge of their history.

The focus of the proposed research is to provide a robust phylogenetic hypothesis for beetle families and subfamilies, by gathering DNA sequences from over 3000 species, and morphological data from over 400 species. We anticipate that this will provide a phylogenetic framework enabling future research on beetle systematics, ecology, and evolution, and will represent a major leap forward in our understanding of what is arguably among the most important phenomena in the Tree of Life's last 300,000,000 years: the diversification of beetles.

Objectives

Infer relationships among beetle suborders, superfamilies, families, and subfamilies:

Assemble a collection of beetles for comparative morphological and molecular studies with representatives of adults and larvae for most currently recognized subfamilies.
Gather complete mitochondrial genomes, sequences from nuclear genes, and score >400 morphological characters for 75 species, with grades of lesser amounts of data for up to 3300 more species.
Establish an online, vouchered database of morphological character states and species, with images.

Develop the necessary bioinformatics tools to make this efficient and practical:

Build a DNA sequence workflow solution that will feature a graphical user interface; storage in databases; an automated processing of sequences, including quality checks, that will take one directly from chromatograms to alignments; and connections to various inference engines.
Extend Mesquite's collaborative matrix editing tools to allow remote editing of a morphological database.

Use the inferred relationships of beetles to study the evolution of beetle life histories and the timing and tempo of beetle diversification, including estimating divergence times of major subgroups/feeding types using fossils and molecular clocks.
Make our results known to a broader audience:

Develop the Tree of Life Web Project for Coleoptera, adding pages for all beelte subfamilies and families.
Develop an English/Spanish traveling exhibit regarding beetles and the Tree of Life at the Harvard Museum of Natural History for travel to museums within the U.S.A. (e,g., the Field Museum, Santa Barbara Museum) and abroad.
Expand the Lawrence et al. (1999) CSIRO CD ROM illustrated keys to beetle families and subfamilies.
Provide training in integrated insect systematics and evolution to students and other researchers, reinforcing ties within the community of beetle researchers, among AToL projects, and with the larger community of scholars and the public.