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Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Student Competition Poster

Grad SysEB: Evolution

D3106: Snow scorpionflies of Alaska (Mecoptera: Boreidae): The evolution and taxonomy of Alaskan Boreus sp.

Monday, November 14, 2022
9:00 AM – 6:30 PM PT
Location: West Exhibit Hall A
In-Person Poster Student Competition

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Taylor Kane

    PhD Student
    University of Alaska
    Fairbanks, Alaska

Snow Scorpionflies (genus Boreus) are understudied and undersampled within Alaska. These highly endemic, cold adapted species are likely to be disproportionately impacted by climate change, making their documentation an urgent task. Here I present an overview of my preliminary research, describing two new Alaskan Boreus species, and reinstating Boreus gracilis as a valid species name. In addition, I present a COI gene tree and preliminary phylogeny for North American Boreus, and an overview of my future research. Morphological and preliminary genetic work using the COI barcoding gene indicate that the evolutionary history of Boreus is more complex than previously hypothesized. I have begun working towards a phylogenomic analysis of the evolution and biogeographic history of Beringian Boreus. My generated reference genome will be the first whole genome sequence from the order Mecoptera.