AToL Forum at ASIH-HL-SSAR, 6-11 July 2005, Tampa
Workshop/forum: Assembling the Tree of Life (AToL)
ASIH/HL/SSAR Meetings, 6-11 July, Tampa.
The U.S. National Science Foundation currently supports three research initiatives through its Assembling the Tree of Life (AToL) program. These projects explicitly analyze the phylogenetic relationships of fishes (Systematics of Cypriniformes; CToL), amphibians (AmphibiaTree), and squamate reptiles (Deep Scaly).
This half-day forum will communicate basic information and opportunities regarding these programs and provide a forum to discuss both conceptual and practical issues that pertain to the analysis of phylogeny and evolution. The CToL component—“Laying a foundation for collaborative systematics: where we are and what we can envision"—will provide an overview of the Cypriniformes grant (Rick Mayden), an introduction to analysis of the morphology of fossil fishes (Gloria Arratia), and an outline of plans to integrate AToL-related studies with available phenotype and genomics databases for the zebrafish (Paula Mabee). The Deep Scaly component will include an overview of the project’s structure and goals, including novel approaches to morphological data analysis and consideration of fossils (Maureen Kearney).
The AmphibiaTree component will first introduce the project (David Cannatella) and then convene a forum to discuss the controversial results of recent studies of life-history evolution in urodeles. Following short presentations (Rachel Mueller, Paul Chippindale) and responses (Richard Bruce, James Hanken), audience members will be invited to participate in a vigorous discussion. We invite all meeting attendees, including those who have any interest in the study of phylogeny and evolution, to attend this free-flowing, unusual, and likely memorable workshop.
The Forum will take place Friday afternoon, July 8, from 1:30 to 5:00p.
Background Reading
Mueller, R. L., J. R. Macey, M. Jaekel, D. B. Wake, and J. L. Boore. 2004. Morphological homoplasy, life history evolution, and historical biogeography of plethodontid salamanders inferred from complete mitochondrial genomes. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 101:13820-25.
Chippindale, P. T., R. M. Bonett, A. S. Baldwin, and J. J. Wiens. 2004. Phylogenetic evidence for a major reversal of life-history evolution in plethodontid salamanders. Evolution 58:2809-2822.
