Evolutionary history is typically portrayed as a branching phylogenetic tree, yet not all evolution proceeds in a purely bifurcating manner. Introgressive hybridization is one process that results in reticulate evolution. At ancient time scales, lateral movement of genetic mater…
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Hermit and king crabs represent a considerable portion of decapod biodiversity, yet the evolutionary relationships among them remain poorly understood. Much of this uncertainty results from intraspecific variation and convergence in morphological characters historically used for…
Understanding interspecies patterns and the mechanisms that generated them is key in macroevolutionary theory. Often, these patterns can be attributed to selection affecting groups of lineages in different manners. Under the ecomorphological paradigm, we investigated the macroev…
Phyllotis xanthopygus is currently understood to be a widespread species, inhabiting regions of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. This vast geographic distribution is complemented by an extensive altitudinal gradient, occupying areas at sea level up to 5570m in the central And…
Cercopithecus mitis is a polytypic, pan-African guenon species with a complex evolutionary history. The Lomami River Blue Monkey, C. m. heymansi, occurs within the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba (TL2) Conservation Landscape and exhibits high pelage variation. Previous studies have shown…
Tolpis (Asteraceae) is a flowering plant genus with a center of distribution in the Macaronesian archipelagos. The genus has gained considerable interest, most recently, for elucidating patterns of mating system evolution, hybrid speciation, and genetic breakdown of self-incompa…
Bees are a diverse group of flower-visiting insects with over 20,000 described species. Understanding their phylogenetic relationships is essential for studying their biology and natural history. A central theme of this dissertation is the use of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) t…
More than a century after they emerged as central themes in ecology, community assembly and species coexistence remain rich areas of inquiry. Recent advances in coexistence theory and the development of new and powerful quantitative techniques have offered new insights into the …
The subfamily Oraseminae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eucharitidae) is a circumtropical group of parasitoid wasps that specialize on ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Multiple phylogenetic inference methods, including parsimony, maximum likelihood, Bayes…
Despite the existence of various molecular marker systems there are still limitations in distinguishing between closely related species based on molecular divergence, especially when hybridization events have occurred in the past. The characterisation of plant small nucleolar RN…
Population projection matrix (PPM) models are a central tool in ecology and evolution. They are widely used for devising population management practises for conservation, pest control, and harvesting. They are frequently employed in comparative analyses that seek to explain demo…
Theraphosidae, commonly known as tarantulas, represent some of the most charismatic spiders on the planet. With almost 1000 described species, they have colonized the subtropics of every continent and have adapted to fill many of ecological niches. I address gaps in our understa…
Tulostoma is speciose group of stalked puffballs with a high diversity in grasslands and arid environments. This cosmopolitan genus exhibits a high degree of spore morphological variation. Recent molecular analysis suggests the center of diversity of this genus occurs in Europea…
Vibrio vulnificus is a heterogeneous gram-negative bacterium from brackish and saline water. The species comprise avirulent and human/fish virulent strains from environment or clinical sources. Based on some phenotypic differences the species has been subdivided into three bioty…
The Pleurotus eryngii species complex comprises at least five varieties: eryngii, ferulae, elaeoselini, nebrodensis and tingitanus . This species is unique among the genus Pleurotus because in nature it is found in association with specific members of the Umbelliferae and Compos…
The Miocene to Pliocene fossil record of the Siwalik Hills in Pakistan yields abundant material of hipparionine equids. This material has been intensively investigated over the last 150 years, but previous reports did not include precise stratigraphic and paleomagnetic data as w…
Lentinoid and Pleurotoid mushrooms (Polyporales and Agaricales) from South East Asia are well known for their edibility. However, taxonomic and genetic diversity of both groups are not well represented especially in Borneo. This study revealed the diversity of lentinoid ( Lentin…
The phylogeny, biogeography, population genetics and taxonomy of Labeobarbus (Cyprinidae), a genus of large hexaploid minnows, was estimated by a variety of phylogenetic and population genetics methods. In Chapter 2 relationships among species of large barbine minnows was examin…