REPTILE SYSTEMATICS · Uses of Phylogenies to study evolutionary, ecological and biogeographical processes: the North African and Arabian arid reptile faunas
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2004-04-01 → 2005-03-31
- EU contribution
- €39,216
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- EIF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - REPTILE SYSTEMATICS (Uses of phylogenies to study evolutionary, ecological and biogeographical processes: the North African and Arabian arid reptile faunas)
Understanding the patterns and processes underlying species diversification and adaptation, the evolution of communities and biogeography is one of the fundamental goals of the biological sciences. In this project we have used the information contained in the mitochondrial DNA of several reptile and some amphibian groups to investigate such phenomena and to test a wide array of hypotheses. For instance, we were able to show that the largest desert on earth, the Sahara, has probably existed as a continuous patch of desert large enough to allow the evolution of certain desert adapted forms for at least 5 million years. We were also able to investigate the way montane areas gain their endemic faunas by comparing complete and robust molecular genealogies of a group of mountain lizards (Iberolacerta) with a group of mountain newts (Euproctus). It was in the course of this investigation that we found out that while the lizards probably got restricted to mountains as a result of competence with other lizards of the genus Podarcis, the mountain newts might have appeared as a result of the uplift of their habitat. But maybe one of the most important discoveries related to this project is that we were able to find and describe a new species of mountain newt from the Iberian Peninsula. The discovery of this new species has clarified the origin and distribution of the Iberian mountain newts and has opened a new line of research on the biology, ecology and conservation of this species.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Understanding the patterns and processes underlying species diversification and adaptation, the evolution of communities and biogeography is one of the fundamental goals of the biological sciences. These topics can be investigated using phylogenies. Ideally, they should be studied in all kinds of environmental situations using many taxa but until recently the phylogenies needed were too numerous and time consuming to produce. Because of this, studies have usually concentrated on single taxa or relatively simple island communities. However, single taxa are not suitable to elucidate complex interactive processes and island systems are intrinsically very different from mainland ones and do not make adequate models for them. Fortunately, recent advances in DNA technology now allow robust phylogenies to be produced rapidly and economically.In this project, I propose to exploit these advances and my wide experience in similar projects to address a whole range of general evolutionary, ecological and biogeographic questions and to explore as many uses of phylogenies as possible using as a model the complex mainland and island communities of North Africa, Arabia and adjoining areas. This region has been selected as a test bed because the morphological alpha-taxonomy of its more than 300 reptile species is now well known and the topography of the area is appropriate for the kind of study proposed. It contains severe habitats in the form of deserts that require substantial adaptation for occupation and are divided into subunits between some of which intermittent fauna mobility appears to have been possible. There are also montane areas with distinctive faunas, and nearby continental and oceanic islands of known approximate age. Estimates of phylogeny based on morphology are already available for many groups and less frequently some DNA sequence as well.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA · BARCELONACoordinatorSpain
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union