SPECIES DELIMITATION AND MOLECULAR EVOLUTION OF THE MITOCHONDRIAL GENOME IN REPTILES

STUDENT SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

Appropriate taxonomic delimitation has a central role in comparative studies in ecology, biogeography and conservation planning. In this seminar, I will present the research that I have been conducting during my PhD on the systematics and biogeography of North African and Arabian reptiles. The presentation will focus on work that has been done on the genus Bunopus, Tropiocolotes and Ptyodactylus oudrii. I will show our findings related to their taxonomic status, new insights in to their phylogenies and our plans for the 4th year of the PhD.

Luís Machado holds a MSc in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution from the University of Porto. Currently, Luis is a PhD student entering his fourth year of the BIODIV program and he is working under the supervision of Dr. Daniele Salvi (CIBIO-InBIO), Dr. D. James Harris (CIBIO-InBIO) and Dr. Salvador Carranza (IBE-CSIC) as part of the Applied Phylogenetics group. His interests focus on phylogenetics, phylogeography and systematics. Specifically, Luis's research focus on applying those tools to understand the diversity patterns of reptiles.

Image credits: Luís Machado and Roberto Sindaco