RUI: Evolution of the Endemic Lizard Fauna of New Caledonia

Villanova University, Villanova PA

Investigators

Abstract

New Caledonia is an ancient island in the South Pacific that supports a highly endemic terrestrial biota. Among vertebrates, lizards are particularly diverse (~ 20 genera). The evolutionary history of the endemic New Caledonian lizards will be reconstructed in order to evaluate how events over the last 80 million years have interacted to yield high biodiversity in a small insular setting. Drs. Bauer and Jackman at Villanova University will reconstruct phylogenies for all New Caledonian lizards based on a combined data set of morphological and molecular characters (DNA sequences). Phylogenies will be used to erect hypotheses about the geographic distributions of the organisms through time. A molecular clock will be invoked to distinguish between older lineage splits associated with the fragmentation of New Caledonia from Australia in the Late Cretaceous and qualitatively later divisions indicative of over-water dispersal. The historical biogeography of New Caledonia will be examined by combining phylogenetic information from reptiles with that from other organisms showing similar patterns of diversification within the island. Regions of congruent distribution of these taxa will be recognized as areas of endemism that will be analyzed using several current analytical biogeographic approaches. This research will provide a robust phylogenetic background for subsequent studies of the evolutionary morphology and ecology of the New Caledonian lizards and will serve as the foundation for more detailed and sophisticated biogeographic studies of this biodiversity hotspot. The DNA sequence data collected will be made available for the use of other researchers, and museum material will be deposited in collections in the United States, Australia, and France for future studies. The project will promote international research cooperation (United States, Australia and New Caledonia [a French territory]) and will foster the professional development of undergraduates and a postdoctoral associate, as well as strengthen the research environment at a primarily undergraduate institution.