Burrowing snake evolution
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PhD Title
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Burrowing snake evolution |
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Research Theme
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Evolution and Adaptation |
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Primary Supervisor
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Primary Institution
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Secondary Supervisor
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Secondary Institution
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Abstract
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Fossorial snakes are key to understanding snake origins and the ‘role’ of fossoriality in early snake evolution. However, they are generally understudied due to their secretive lifestyle, making them less likely to be encountered without special effort. Given their phylogenetic position and fossorial habits this PhD project will focus on two major lineages of snakes – Scolecophidia and Uropeltoidea. I aim to generate and integrate new molecular (traditional Sanger sequencing and Next Generation Sequencing) and morphological data (external morphology, x-ray and CT-scanning) to analyse the diversity, taxonomy, distribution and phylogenetic relationships of scolecophidian and uropeltoid taxa. The new data will help to assess the usefulness of morphological and molecular data in delimiting potentially cryptic fossorial species. Dated molecular phylogenies will be used to test biogeographic hypotheses explaining current patterns of diversity in global biodiversity hotspots. Additional comparative phylogenetic methods will be used to infer spatial, temporal and morphological patterns of diversification in these taxa and understand the impact that fossoriality has on biotic diversification. |
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Policy Impact
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Background Reading
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Publications
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