Patterns and processes in marine life: macroevolution in Scyphozoa (Medusozoa)

Abstract

The understanding of the evolutionary biology of marine organisms has undergone an intense process of development in the last decade, with proposed groups supported, others rejected, and new ones not recognized previously being suggested and confirmed. Also, recent comparative methods and analyses of structural complexity are remarked, which allow integrating several morphological and ecological information, as well as data related to species richness and genetic information, to evaluate macroevolutionary processes from the phylogenetic pattern. In the case of Scyphozoa (Medusozoa), there are several evolutionary patterns that need to be assessed in the context of phylogenetics, in order to establish accurate discussions concerning historical phenomena that characterize the group, both in biological biodiversity extinct as contemporary. The main concept of this project is to answer questions on marine macroevolution (phylogenies, origin and evolution of species richness) from the recognition of potential mechanisms (especially alternative life cycles and reproduction strategies) as hypotheses on trends of diversification in the cnidarians Scyphozoa. From the morphological-ecological and molecular data original and accumulated in recent decades, not previously integrated broadly in the context of its contents, this project aims to conduct phylogenetic analyses of species representing major groups with molecular data. Subsequent macroevolutionary studies will be represented by morphological-ecological data of all kinds, as well as a basic comparison with the other main groups of Medusozoa. This project proposes to establish an unprecedented dataset and to obtain results and discussions for different scientific scopes, mainly related to systematics based on molecular data, macroevolution and marine zoology. (AU)