Comparative phylogeography and evolution of the Echimyidae group (Rodentia) using Next-Generation genomics

• Grant number: 25/01234-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: May 21, 2025
• End date: March 20, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Reis Percequillo
• Grantee: Sergio David Bolívar Leguizamón
• Supervisor: Jesus Eduardo Maldonado
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/16202-0 - Diversity of Neotropical rodents (Rodentia: Sciuridae, Cricetidae, Echimyidae): Origin, Evolution and Biogeography, BP.PD

Abstract

Neotropical biomes and ecosystems exhibit high biodiversity as a result of multiple ecological and geological processes that fomented diverse biogeographical patterns. This high biodiversity is present in all organisms inhabiting this region and covers all taxonomic levels. Among these groups, the rodents (Order Rodentia) represent more than 50% of mammalian species in the Neotropics, with highly specialized taxa at morphological and ecological levels. However, to date, there is no clear understanding of the biogeographical and evolutionary processes molding the diversity of rodents in the Neotropics from a genomic perspective, with scarce data on some groups or species. To understand the evolutionary history of these taxa, it is necessary to test biogeographic hypotheses that could offer explanations regarding vicariance and/or dispersal events. Additionally, an approach based on comparative genomics will allow more informative phylogeographic hypotheses for these taxa and a better understanding of their population genetics. For this reason, the main objective of this project is to elucidate the evolutionary and biogeographic mechanisms underpinning the diversity and distribution of species of three families of Neotropical rodents: Sciuridae, Cricetidae, and Echimyidae by using comparative genomic analyses. The results from this study will not only provide insights into the evolutionary and biogeographical history of these Neotropical taxa, but also will provide grounds for further research on other mammalian species of this region. In the same way, it will provide valuable data that will allow the improvement of conservation and management strategies for the analyzed species.