Systematics and Biogeography at UNLV

Dipodomys merriami
(Merriam's Kangaroo Rat)

Systematics and Biogeography at UNLV

Systematics encompasses the discovery of the diversity and evolutionary history of extant and extinct organisms. One of the most important trends in the fields of evolution and ecology in recent years has been the growing appreciation for the importance of phylogenies. Biologists are increasingly realizing the necessity of a phylogenetic framework for understanding how organisms, their traits, and interactions between species evolve. The renewed interest in phylogenies has risen partly from new molecular techniques and computer technologies, but perhaps more importantly, from the application of rigorous methods of phylogeny reconstruction to all types of data.

Biogeography is the science that attempts to document and understand spatial patterns of biodiversity. Biogeography is a synthetic discipline, and in addition to its own theoretical and empirical approaches, it readily incorporates conceptual and factual advances from many other fields of study, including systematics, ecology, and the earth sciences. Modern biogeography is conceptually oriented and concerned with building and testing biogeographic theory, and forms the conceptual and empirical foundation for many of the issues involved in the conservation of biological diversity.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is located in the Mojave Desert, which lies at the intersection of a heterogeneous array of western North American ecoregions, including the Sonoran Desert to the south, the Colorado Plateau Shrublands to the east, and the Great Basin Shrub Steppe and Montane Forests to the north. Accordingly, the campus offers unparalleled ease of access for fieldwork in a variety of biomes. At the School of Life Sciences at UNLV, ongoing research projects in biogeography and systematics include comparative biogeography of terrestrial mammals from the North American deserts, including islands of the Sea of Cortés (Brett R. Riddle), diversity of bryophytes endemic to the Mojave Desert (Lloyd R. Stark), comparative phylogeography of reptiles and amphibians from Puerto Rico (Javier A. Rodríguez), diversity of hyperthermophilic microorganisms, microbial biogeography and coevolution (Brian P. Hedlund), and comparative phylogeography among a set of lowland and montane Middle American birds (John T. Klicka).

Spizella breweri (Brewer's Sparrow)

Selected Publications of the UNLV Systematics Group

Alexander, L. F., and B. R. Riddle. 2005. Phylogenetics of the New World rodent family Heteromyidae. Journal of Mammalogy 86:366-379. [PDF file]

de Queiroz, A., and J. A. Rodríguez-Robles. 2006. Historical contingency and animal diets: the origins of egg-eating in snakes. The American Naturalist 167:682-692. [PDF file] [Appendix A] [Appendix B]

Hedlund, B. P., and J. T. Staley. 2006. Isolation and characterization of Pseudoalteromonas strains with divergent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon catabolic properties. Environmental Microbiology 8:178-182. [PDF file]

Jaeger, J. R., B. R. Riddle, and D. F. Bradford. 2005. Cryptic Neogene vicariance and Quaternary dispersal of the Red-spotted Toad (Bufo punctatus): insights on the evolution of North American warm desert biotas. Molecular Ecology 14:3033-3048. [PDF file]

Klicka, J., G. Voelker, and G. M. Spellman. 2005. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the "true thrushes" (Aves: Turdinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34:486-500. [PDF file] [PDF file]

Oakley, B., M. North, J. F. Franklin, B. P. Hedlund, and J. T. Staley. 2004. Diversity and distribution of Frankia strains symbiotic with Ceanothus in California. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70:6444-6452. [PDF file]

McLetchie, D. N., and L. R. Stark. 2006. Sporophyte and gametophyte generations differ in their thermotolerance response in the moss Microbryum. Annals of Botany 97:505-511. [PDF file]

Riddle, B. R., D. J. Hafner, L. F. Alexander, and J. R. Jaeger. 2000. Cryptic vicariance in the historical assembly of a Baja California peninsular desert biota. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 97:14438-14443. [PDF file]

Rodríguez-Robles, J. A., T. Jezkova, and M. A. García. 2007. Evolutionary relationships and historical biogeography of Anolis desechensis and A. monensis, two lizards endemic to small islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Journal of Biogeography 34:1546-1558. [PDF file]

Shevock, J. R., J. R. Spence, and L. R. Stark. 2005. Contributions toward a bryoflora of Nevada: bryophytes new for the Silver State. Madroño 52:66-71.

Spellman, G. M., and J. Klicka. 2006. Testing hypotheses of Pleistocene population history using coalescent simulations: phylogeography of the Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273:3057-3063. [PDF file]

Spellman, G. M., and J. Klicka. 2007. Phylogeography of the White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis): diversification in North American pine and oak woodlands. Molecular Ecology 16:1729-1740. [PDF file]

Spellman, G. M., B. Riddle, and J. Klicka. 2007. Phylogeography of the Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli): diversification, introgression, and expansion in response to Quaternary climate change. Molecular Ecology 16:1055-1068. [PDF file]

Zink, R. M., J. Klicka, and B. R. Barber. 2004. The tempo of avian diversification during the Quaternary. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 359:215-220. [PDF file]

Rhinocheilus lecontei (Long-nosed Snake)