Meeting Abstract S8-2.3  Friday, Jan. 6  Evolutionary consequences of context-dependent maternal effects CRUICKSHANK, Tami; National Evolutionary Synthesis Center tami.cruickshank@gmail.com Context-dependent maternal effects are common; environmental variation among dams may be reflected in distributions of offspring phenotypes.  I examine the evolutionary genetic consequences of plasticity due to maternal effects, focusing on properties that are unique compared with within-generational […]

Meeting Abstract S8-2.1  Sunday, Jan. 6  “Don’t judge a book by its cover: Discovering two new Verongida genera (Class Demospongiae, Porifera)” DIAZ, M.C.*; THACKER, R.W.T; REDMOND, N.; COLLINS, A.G; Museo Marino, NE, Venezuela; U. Alabama at Birmingham, USA; NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, USA; NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, USA taxochica@gmail.com Integrating morphological and molecular data is crucial when morphological characters […]

Meeting Abstract S8-2.2  Sunday, Jan. 6  The origin of freshwater sponges: when, where, and why? LAVROV, Dennis; Iowa State University dlavrov@iastate.edu All animal phyla originated in the sea but only a few of them have colonized freshwater. The transition to limnic ecosystems required multiple adaptations to cope with highly variable temperatures, salinities, oxygen concentrations, and other parameters […]

Meeting Abstract S8-2.3  Sunday, Jan. 6  Phylogenomics of non-bilaterian animals: pitfalls and challenges WOERHEIDE, G; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen woerheide@lmu.de Deep-level metazoan relationships have long been controversial issues. Especially a well resolved and supported phylogeny of non-bilaterian animals is needed to provide a robust framework for reconstructing early metazoan evolution. Expanding molecular (phylogenomic) datasets are increasingly being used to […]