Molecular Systematics of endemic amphibians and squamate reptiles from the Western Ghats
The project aims to:
- Infer phylogenetic relationships of the study taxa and elucidate their biogeographic pattern of diversification
- Investigate correlation of molecular divergence in the herpetofauna with various ecoclimatic conditions
- Formulate conservation implications of patterns of biogeography and distribution of herpetofauna
Objective 1 Understanding historical diversification is crucially dependent upon the
knowledge of the evolutionary history of the taxonomic group(s) in question. Here we improve upon
earlier approaches by incorporating an explicit phylogenetic framework in our study. Two genera of
frogs and two genera of lizards have been identified as indicator taxa representative of the
endemic herpetofauna of the Western Ghats.
Once phylogenetic relationships among the study taxa is inferred biogeographic analysis will be
undertaken. Firstly this will provide an understanding of the spatial pattern of diversification
for the whole of the Western Ghats. Secondly this will allow identifying regions of endemicity
within the Western Ghats. Though such divisions have been proposed based on plant distributions,
this never been tested for any vertebrate groups within a phylogenetic framework.
Objective 2 Extraordinarily species-rich tropical rain forests are a primary
contributor to the higher species diversity in the tropics. Though this phenomenon remains poorly
understood it prompts questions concerning the nature of diversification in the tropics and
factors contributing to it. The WG offers a potential area for investigating diversification
in the tropics due to its latitudinal gradient, varying ecoclimatic conditions, and species
richness. Through this objective we intend to investigate the relationship between genetic
divergence in focal species of WG amphibians and reptiles, distributed across various
ecoclimatic conditions.
Objective 3 A number of conservation implications may be derived from the
results of the proposed research. Detection of multiple regions of endemicity within the WG
potentially can complement the concept of hotspot conservation, which relates to much larger
spatial scales and does not provide guidelines for conservation prioritization within them.
Phylogenetic information will assess current levels of taxonomic diversity within these genera
and infer their age and evolutionary distinctiveness for more realistic conservation prioritization.
Information collected will be used to web-publish images and external morphology-based field
identification keys for the study taxa. Information from geo-referenced distribution data may
be used in Ecological Niche Modeling for identifying microhotspots for conservation overlapping
across multiple taxa.
 
|
