International Research Fellowship Program: Evolutionary History of SE Asian Shrews

Esselstyn Jacob, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Jacob Esselstyn to work with Dr. Jatna Supriatna at the University of Indonesia in Indonesia and with Dr. Ben Evans at McMaster University in Canada. This project focuses on the history of diversification in Southeast Asian shrews (Soricomorpha: Crocidura), with a goal of identifying the forces that have shaped current patterns of diversity. Targeted fieldwork on the major islands of Indonesia is supplementing an existing phylogenetic data set with new specimens, allowing for improved estimation of inter-specific relationships and more accurate estimates of regional biodiversity. Bioinformatic techniques and an in-progress shrew genome are being used to identify rapidly evolving nuclear genes appropriate for phylogenetic and phylogeographic inference in Southeast Asian shrews. Phylogenetic estimates derived from the resulting multi-locus data set are being integrated with ecomorphological and climate data to explore the significance of ecological forces such as competition and specialization in shaping the processes of diversification and community assembly. This project supports one post-doctoral researcher and builds collaborative relationships among U.S., Indonesian, and Canadian scientists. The post-doctoral researcher is being trained in bioinformatics and molecular biology. Anticipated results include improved estimates of biodiversity in a region undergoing severe degradation of biological resources and a greater understanding of evolutionary and ecological processes in island archipelagos.