Phylogeny and historical biogeography of Dasypodidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra): combined analysis of morphological and molecular characters

• Grant number: 14/23815-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2015
• End date: October 15, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Max Cardoso Langer
• Grantee: Mariela Cordeiro de Castro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to elaborate a highly inclusive phylogeny of Dasypodidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Cingulata) and to reconstruct the main biogeographical events of the group. Dasypodidae shows a broad geographical (in most of the American continent) and temporal (from the late Paleocene to recent) distribution. In order to achieve the proposed goals, morphological and molecular characters will be incorporated into a combined analysis including all the extant and most extinct taxa. It is worth mentioning that the inclusion of fossil taxa is especially relevant, given that Dasypodidae have a greater fossil than living diversity. In addition, previous phylogenetic analyses of Dasypodidae dealt separately with morphological and molecular characters. Accordingly, a combined analysis may elucidate conflicting points between both approaches, and may also more comprehensively define the position of many taxa of uncertain or controversial affinities. From a methodological point of view, the congruence and robustness of the phylogenies obtained from different kinds of characters will be tested, as well as different methods of character combination and inference criteria. The resulting topology will be calibrated in the geological timescale, contrasting the divergence estimates from molecular clocks to the available fossil evidence, as well as by tip-dating analysis. Finally, the main biogeographical events in the history of the group will be examined, and spatially and temporally contextualized evolutionary scenarios will be proposed for each lineage. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CASTRO, MARIELA C.; GOIN, FRANCISCO J.; ORTIZ-JAUREGUIZAR, EDGARDO; CAROLINA VIEYTES, E.; TSUKUI, KAORI; RAMEZANI, JAHANDAR; BATEZELLI, ALESSANDRO; MARSOLA, JULIO C. A.; LANGER, MAX C.. A Late Cretaceous mammal from Brazil and the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, v. 5, n. 5, MAY 2018. (14/03825-3, 13/23114-1, 16/02473-1, 14/23815-2, 15/17632-5)

FENG, XIAO; CASTRO, MARIELA C.; MCBEE, KAREN; PAPES, MONICA. Hiding in a Cool Climatic Niche in the Tropics? An Assessment of the Ecological Biogeography of Hairy Long-Nosed Armadillos (Dasypus pilosus). TROPICAL CONSERVATION SCIENCE, v. 10, 2017. (14/23815-2)

MENDONCA LOPES, PAULO RICARDO; CORDEIRO DE CASTRO, MARIELA; GUILHERME, EDSON; SCHMALTZ HSIOU, ANNIE. ANATOMICAL REVIEW OF EIRA BARBARA (CARNIVORA, MUSTELIDAE) FROM THE QUATERNARY OF SOUTHWESTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, v. 22, n. 3, p. 217-224, SEP-DEC 2019. (14/23815-2, 14/02005-2, 11/14080-0)

FENG, XIAO; CASTRO, MARIELA C.; LINDE, EVAN; PAPES, MONICA. Armadillo Mapper: A Case Study of an Online Application to Update Estimates of Species' Potential Distributions. TROPICAL CONSERVATION SCIENCE, v. 10, AUG 3 2017. (14/23815-2)