NATRICINE | Phenotypic and lineage diversification of natricine snakes

Summary
The NATRICINE project is a study of the macroevolution of a major group (240 extant species) of snakes. Natricines originated in Asia and dispersed into N America, Africa and Australasia. They are diverse, with repeatedly evolved surface, burrowing and aquatic ecotypes. The overarching project aim is to determine the extent to which lineage and phenotype diversification is impacted by dispersal to new regions (potentially providing ecological opportunity) and by evolutionary transitions between ecotypes. The overarching aim will be tackled via four main research objectives: molecular phylogenetics to determine the interrelationships among >70% of all natricine species; historical biogeography to identify ancestral areas and the location and timing of major dispersal events; phenotypic disparity and diversity analyses to quantify the main axes of natricine variation in time and space; quantitative analyses to test whether different ecotypes and geographical groups have undergone different rates of lineage and phenotype diversification. These four objectives will be tackled in four work packages. The topic is novel and the approach is innovative in combining cutting-edge techniques including amplification of DNA sequences from historical museum specimens, quantifying shape variation using the latest surface and microCT scanning approaches, and model-based analyses of trait and lineage evolutionary rate shifts. The project will be undertaken by an early-career postdoctoral researcher, who has expertise and solid grounding in Asian reptile systematics, ecology and evolution, but who requires training in advanced Next Generation Sequencing, 3D imaging and macroevolutionary quantitative analysis. The fellow will also receive training in public engagement, project management, student supervision and grant writing. This training will establish the fellow as a prominent vertebrate biologist who will lead European-Indian collaborative biodiversity research for years to come.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/751567
Start date: 11-10-2017
End date: 10-10-2019
Total budget - Public funding: 183 454,80 Euro - 183 454,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

The NATRICINE project is a study of the macroevolution of a major group (240 extant species) of snakes. Natricines originated in Asia and dispersed into N America, Africa and Australasia. They are diverse, with repeatedly evolved surface, burrowing and aquatic ecotypes. The overarching project aim is to determine the extent to which lineage and phenotype diversification is impacted by dispersal to new regions (potentially providing ecological opportunity) and by evolutionary transitions between ecotypes. The overarching aim will be tackled via four main research objectives: molecular phylogenetics to determine the interrelationships among >70% of all natricine species; historical biogeography to identify ancestral areas and the location and timing of major dispersal events; phenotypic disparity and diversity analyses to quantify the main axes of natricine variation in time and space; quantitative analyses to test whether different ecotypes and geographical groups have undergone different rates of lineage and phenotype diversification. These four objectives will be tackled in four work packages. The topic is novel and the approach is innovative in combining cutting-edge techniques including amplification of DNA sequences from historical museum specimens, quantifying shape variation using the latest surface and microCT scanning approaches, and model-based analyses of trait and lineage evolutionary rate shifts. The project will be undertaken by an early-career postdoctoral researcher, who has expertise and solid grounding in Asian reptile systematics, ecology and evolution, but who requires training in advanced Next Generation Sequencing, 3D imaging and macroevolutionary quantitative analysis. The fellow will also receive training in public engagement, project management, student supervision and grant writing. This training will establish the fellow as a prominent vertebrate biologist who will lead European-Indian collaborative biodiversity research for years to come.

Status

CLOSED

Call topic

MSCA-IF-2016

Update Date

28-04-2024
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.3. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
H2020-EU.1.3.2. Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
H2020-MSCA-IF-2016
MSCA-IF-2016