604 Evolution & Ontology Symposium, Grand Ballroom I, Saturday 25 July 2009 Paula Mabee University of South Dakota, Vermilli
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604 Evolution & Ontology Symposium, Grand Ballroom I, Saturday 25 July 2009 Paula Mabee University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, United States Phenoscape: Using Ontologies to Link Comparative Morphology to Genes Decades of comparative anatomical studies in ichthyology and herpetology have resulted in a rich body of ‘free-text’ data. As these data grow, they are increasingly hard to align and synthesize across taxonomic groups, and synthetic questions concerning the developmental and genetic basis of evolutionary changes in morphology cannot be easily or efficiently addressed. In order for this volume of comparative anatomical data to be analyzed in a developmental genetic context, it must first be rendered computable. One way to achieve this is to use ontologies. Using ostariophysan fishes as a prototype, the Phenoscape project has developed a system that includes ontologies representing expert knowledge of anatomy and taxonomy (the Teleost Anatomy Ontology and the Teleost Taxonomy Ontology), software for data curation (Phenex), and a knowledgebase that supports ontology-based reasoning about evolutionary phenotype data (PhenoscapeKB, http://phenoscape.org/kb). To date, over 5,000 characters from the phylogenetic literature have been annotated for 8,300 species, resulting in over eight million annotated phenotypes. PhenoscapeKB combines these evolutionary phenotypes with information about genetically characterized phenotype from ZFIN, the zebrafish community database. Through ontology-based reasoning over expert knowledge in taxonomy, comparative anatomy and developmental genetics, PhenoscapeKB can be used to address a host of questions spanning the domains of genetics, development and evolutionary biology, such as the nature of the genetic changes underlying phenotypic variation among taxa in nature. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _ 606 Poster Session III, Exhibitor’s Hall, Sunday 26 July 2009 Paula Mabee1, James Balhoff2, Wasila Dahdul1, Cartik Kothari2, Hilmar Lapp2, John Lundberg3, Peter Midford4, Todd Vision5, Monte Westerfield6 1University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, United States, 2National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, Durham, NC, United States, 3Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 4University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States, 5University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States, 6University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States Phenoscape: Evolutionary Morphology Linked to Genes Using Informatics Decades of comparative anatomical studies in ichthyology and herpetology have resulted in a rich body of ‘free-text’ data. As these data grow, they are increasingly hard to align and synthesize across taxonomic groups, and synthetic questions concerning the developmental and genetic basis of evolutionary changes in morphology cannot be easily or efficiently addressed. In order for this volume of comparative anatomical data 385 to be analyzed in a developmental genetic context, it must first be rendered computable. One way to achieve this is to use ontologies. Using ostariophysan fishes as a prototype, the Phenoscape project has developed a system that includes ontologies representing expert knowledge of anatomy and taxonomy (the Teleost Anatomy Ontology and the Teleost Taxonomy Ontology), software for data curation (Phenex), and a knowledgebase that supports ontology-based reasoning about evolutionary phenotype data (PhenoscapeKB, http://phenoscape.org/kb). To date, over 5,000 characters from the phylogenetic literature have been annotated for 8,300 species, resulting in over eight million annotated phenotypes. PhenoscapeKB combines these evolutionary phenotypes with information about genetically characterized phenotype from ZFIN, the zebrafish community database. Through ontology-based reasoning over expert knowledge in taxonomy, comparative anatomy and developmental genetics, PhenoscapeKB can be used to address a host of questions spanning the domains of genetics, development and evolutionary biology, such as the nature of the genetic changes underlying phenotypic variation among taxa in nature. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _ 442 Fish Systematics I, Grand Ballroom II, Thursday 23 July 2009 Kohji Mabuchi1, Thomas Fraser2, Yoichiro Azuma1, Mutsumi Nishida1 1Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan, 2Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236, United States Molecular Phylogeny of the Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) and non-monophyly of Apogon sensu lato Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) are one of the most numerically dominant reef fish families, mostly nocturnal, and many known to be mouthbrooders. The family contains about 333 valid species with 24 genera and 15 subgenera recognized to date within the family. The genus Apogon sensu lato, historically, has been the most speciose genus. Some lists estimated the number of species to be about 200 species. Taxonomy of Apogon is currently unsettled. Ten subgenera were recognized in 1972. A few authors elevated some subgenera to genera following a doctoral dissertation on the cephalic lateralis system in 2004. While a molecular paper in 2006 indicated the non-monophyletic nature for the subgenus Ostorhinchus, monophyly of Apogon sensu lato is yet to be evaluated. Thus, we conducted a molecular phylogenetic analysis using about 100 species representing about 23 genera. Over fifty species of Apogon, representing about nine subgenera, were included in this study. Using three gobioids as collective outgroups, the monophyly of Apogon was evaluated phylogenetically based on DNA sequence data. Preliminary molecular phylogeny inferred by Bayesian method based on ca. 1500bp of mitochondrially encoded 12S and 16S rRNA genes demonstrated that the genus Apogon was polyphyletic with over 10 well-supported monophyletic groups being recognized from the genus. While some of the monophyletic groups corresponded to existing subgenera (e.g. Pristiapogon, Zoramia), some subgenera (e.g. Ostorhinchus, Apogon) were respectively divided into multiple independent groups, some forming well-supported monophyletic groups with non-Apogon species. The result supports revising the generic/subgeneric framework for the family. 386 _____________________________________________________________________________________ _ 686 AES Functional Morphology Symposium, Grand Ballroom II, Friday 24 July 2009 Laura Macesic1, Adam Summers2, Stephen Kajiura1 1Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States, 2University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States Functional Morphology of Pelvic Fin Locomotion in Batoids "Punting” is a form of benthic locomotion wherein a batoid (skate or ray) digs its pelvic fins into the substrate and thrusts itself forward. It was thought to be restricted to skates, but we have shown that it is widespread in Batoidea. By examining kinematic and pelvic fin musculature we previously revealed a continuum of punting ability with a corresponding continuum of pelvic fin musculature. True punters, such as Narcine brasiliensis and Raja eglanteria, use only their pelvic fins and possess more specialized and more robust muscles. Augmented punters, such as Urobatis jamaicensis and Dasyatis sabina, punt with assistance from their pectoral fins, and possess fewer and less substantial muscles. We also used three-point bending tests of the main skeletal element involved in punting, the propterygium, to test if flexural stiffness correlates with punting style. We found that propterygia of the true punters have approximately 80% greater flexural stiffness than the augmented punters (p<0.05). Moreover, propterygia of the augmented punters have almost twice the flexural stiffness of the non-punting pelagic stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea) (p<0.05). The concordance of musculature and skeletal stiffness with punting ability provides us with predictive power regarding the punting kinematics of other elasmobranchs based gross muscular examinations and skeletal material properties. By pairing our results with phylogenetic information, we can also gain a better understanding of the evolution and radiation of batoids. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _ 175 Snake Ecology, Pavillion East, Monday 27 July 2009 Stephen Mackessy University of Northern Colorado, Greeley CO, United States Natural History and Den Site Fidelity of Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis viridis) in Northeastern Colorado Historically, Prairie Rattlesnakes on the eastern plains of Colorado relied on natural fissures and prairie dog towns as hibernacular sites, often reaching very high densities. With wide-scale changes to the habitat and loss of large dog towns, rattlesnakes now often utilize anthropogenic structures as retreats. On a large private ranch, two metapopulations of Prairie Rattlesnakes utilize railroad burms and culverts as den sites. From 2002-2008, in spring and fall, we collected as many snakes as possible, and PIT tagged, measured and extracted venom. Of 497 captures, 406 unique individuals were 387 tagged, and 96 repeat captures were recorded. The sex ratio was slightly male biased (1.06:1), and neonates are born in late August-early September. Snakes emerge from hibernacula in mid-March and return to den sites in mid-September; snakes remain in the vicinity of the den site and are surface-active until at least mid-October.