Evidence and the Higher Classification of Snakes
{'Code': '08010207', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'James E. Rodman', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
Snakes are one of the largest historical groups of tetrapods               (approximately 2500 currently recognized species), and they have                figured prominently in many ecological and evolutionary theories.               Snakes are especially well known for loss of anatomical                         structure during evolution (e.g., limbs and associated girdles                  and visual system) and a wide variety of correlated behavioral                  and morphological specializations (e.g., prey capture and                       locomotion, especially below the earth's surface).  Still, our                  understanding of snake diversity has been significantly retarded                relative to all other major groups of tetrapods because we lack a               historical higher classification of serpents.  Such a                           classification is important because all speculations concerning                 snake ecology and evolution must be logically consistent with the               framework provided by the classification.  The present study                    focuses on discovering the earliest lines of snake evolution and                providing a consistent nomenclature for their major pathways of                 evolution.                                                                           The second goal of this study is to better understand the                  nature of the evidence necessary and sufficient to infer species                history, so called phylogeny.  Specific theoretical and                         methodological considerations concern the importance of including               fossils in studies of phylogenetic inference, how one discerns                  the historical independence of the evidence used to confirm a                   hypothesized lineage or group of lineages, and whether consensus                patterns among taxa (predicted historical groups) or characters                 (shared novelties) are most important.  While examined                          empirically in the context of snake phylogeny, findings in this                 part of the study are expected to be relevant to attempts to                    infer all parts of evolutionary history.
{'FirstName': 'Arnold', 'LastName': 'Kluge', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'G', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Arnold G Kluge', 'EmailAddress': 'akluge@umich.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000443955', 'StartDate': '06/01/1989', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor', 'CityName': 'ANN ARBOR', 'ZipCode': '481091079', 'PhoneNumber': '7347636438', 'StreetAddress': '1109 GEDDES AVE, SUITE 3300', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Michigan', 'StateCode': 'MI', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '06', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'MI06', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'GNJ7BBP73WE9', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
{'Name': None, 'CityName': None, 'StateCode': None, 'ZipCode': None, 'StreetAddress': None, 'CountryCode': None, 'CountryName': None, 'StateName': None, 'CountryFlag': None, 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': None, 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_PERF': '""'}
{'Code': '1127', 'Text': 'Evolutionary Processes'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8822656.xml'}