2004 — 2007 |
Campbell, John Smith, Eric |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Collaborative Research: Phylogeny of New and Old World Venomous Coralsnakes @ University of Texas At Arlington
Intellectual Merit - Coralsnakes represent an extraordinary radiation of highly venomous, brightly colored snakes that occur through Asia and the Americas. The phylogenetic relationships of these snakes, however, are poorly known, and their taxonomy is chaotic. This project will investigate the evolutionary relationships of coralsnakes through the collection and analysis of a multigenomic (nuclear and mitochondrial DNA) and morphological character dataset encompassing nearly all coralsnake taxa. Results will be utilized to guide taxonomic amendments at the species and genus levels. In addition to resolving the currently chaotic state of coralsnake taxonomy, this work will explore theoretical and practical issues of combining and analyzing diverse phylogenetic characters to solve systematic questions. Also, this work will provide a strong evolutionary framework for future coralsnake research and establish a rich morphological and molecular database for coralsnakes from which to launch future studies on natural history, mimicry, venom evolution, therapeutics, and clinical research.
Broader Impacts - Undergraduate and graduate students from several countries (including students from underrepresented groups in science) will be trained in collection and analysis of molecular and morphological data. The project will forge strong collaborative networks and partnerships in diverse countries (in Asia and Latin America), whereby collaborators will participate in increasing taxonomic sampling, morphological and molecular data collection, and manuscript preparation. A multilingual website will be erected to provide general information about coral snakes, taxonomic updates, available research results and publications, unpublished supplemental data, an index of coral snake researchers, and be used to attract additional collaboration and researchers.
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0.915 |
2012 — 2016 |
Harvey, Michael (co-PI) [⬀] Smith, Eric |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Exploration and Speciation in the Volcanoes of the Indonesian Ring of Fire: a Large Scale Inventory of the Herpetofauna of the Highlands of Sumatra and Java @ University of Texas At Arlington
An international team of researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Broward College, and 15 other institutions in 11 countries, will fill in a massive gap in global biodiversity awareness through a large scale inventory of reptiles (snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles) and amphibians (frogs and caecilians) from the Javan and Sumatran montane forests of Indonesia. As of today, the biodiversity of these tropical montane highlands is very poorly known. Previous work hints that these areas may be some of the most species rich on earth, and may contain vast numbers of endemic species with restricted ranges.
These species represent the largest number of vertebrate animals yet to be discovered and described by scientists.The survey will likely discover hundreds of new species from this poorly known area of the world and will result in educational and research partnerships between Indonesia and the USA. As a benefit to the scientific community, the project will produce modern specimen repositories and web-based resources for identification and conservation management, and for genetic and biodiversity work.
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0.915 |