Fernanda Werneck
(PhD candidate) Department of Biology, BYU, Provo, UT 84602 (email: fewerneck@gmail.com)
Research Interests: My primary research interests include the biogeography, conservation, and evolutionary biology of the Neotropical herpetofauna, with special focus on the lizard fauna associated to dry biomes (e. g. Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests/Caatinga, Cerrado, and Chaco). My PhD research focuses on the study of the historical biogeographical relationships between the South American dry biomes, by using distribution modeling and comparative phylogeographic methods, and multiple groups of lizards as focal organisms. Current researches/manuscripts underway include: (1) patterns and perspectives on the zoogeography of South American dry biomes; (2) revisiting the Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests historical distribution: new insights based on palaeodistribution modeling and palynological evidence; (3) development of anonymous nuclear markers for the target genera (Phyllopezus, Vanzosaura, and Lygodactylus); 4) Phyllopezus pollicaris palaeodistribution niche modelling and coalescent tests of historical hypotheses; (5) conservation genetics of the dry biomes; and (6) comparative phylogeography of the dry biomes.
César Aguilar
Department of Biology, Brigham Young University Provo, UT 84602 (caguilarp@gmail.com)
One of my general interests is species delimitation. Species boundaries in the tropidurine lizard genus Liolaemus in the northern part of its distribution have been based on morphological characteristics alone; these have not been useful in reconstructing relationships, and based on the topography of the Peruvian Andes and the cryptic species being found in Patagonia, I suspect that the diversity of these and other northern Andean lizards has been underestimated. In order to address these and related issues, I will use multi-locus molecular data sets, and implement coalescent, phylogeographic, and phylogenetic methods to develop well-supported hypotheses of species boundaries and relationships. Another aspect of my general interest is to use phylogenetic systematics as a framework to study adaptation and character evolution. As another part of my PhD. project, I will focus on the histology and evolution of the placenta in viviparous lizard species along altitudinal and/or latitudinal gradients. These studies will be carried out in several clades of Liolaemus species, but also in parallel in snakes of the Tachymenis peruviana complex. This shares problems of species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships, and because T. peruviana populations are sympatric with some viviparous Liolaemus species, I will use comparative methods to study the independent evolution of the placenta as an adaptation to cold montane environments.
Derek Tucker
(PhD Candidate) Department of Biology, BYU, Provo, UT 84602 (email: derekbrazil2002@yahoo.com)
Research Interests: My interests are broad but center around reptile ecology and evolution. My most recent research (MS project) employed molecular markers (microsatellites) to examine the effect of fire suppression and major roadways on the population structure and gene flow on the lizard Sceloporus woodi, in Florida’s Ocala National Forest. Both of these kinds of disturbances lead to fragmented habitats and create genetically differentiated populations on an ecological time scale. I am interested in developing a dissertation project that includes expanded use of molecular markers, along with morphological and other data sets, to address phylogenetic and phylogeographic questions on squamates in South America, particularly in the seasonally dry vegetation zones in South America.
Perry L. Wood
(PhD Candidate) Department of Biology, BYU, Provo, UT 84602 (email: perryleewoodjr@gmail.com)
Research Interests: I am interested in the elucidation of cryptic species of amphibian and reptiles, patterns and processes of evolution, computational systematics, historical biogeography and phylogeography of the Sunda region, and gene flow across geographical barriers in Southeast Asia. Specifically, I am interested in comparative phylogenetics across the Isthmus of Kra and surrounding areas. I would like to use Bayesian coalescence methods to delineate species boundaries and to look at potential gene flow and secondary contacts across these geographical barriers using a multi-taxon data set and see how groups with different life histories have been influenced by geographic barriers. I am also very interested in constructing a well-supported phylogeny of all Southeast Asian Agamid lizards using a multi-locus data set, which follows from my MS research using a multi-locus data set to construct a species level phylogeny of the genus Acanthosaura. From this molecular phylogeny, I was able to elucidate some of the species complexes within the genus.