Project Details
Description
PhD Scholarship Support Grant
Onychophora ('velvet worms' or 'peripatus') is a phylum of invertebrates consisting of about 200 described species and many more undescribed. Lacking in both conspicuous morphological diversity and in molecular data, a detailed phylogeny that reconstructs the evolution of this group has remained elusive. I propose field collecting at key sites across northeastern Australia and New Guinea, where there is a stark scarcity of molecularsuitable collections. These collections are to be sequenced for phylogenetic analyses, from which the taxonomy will be revised and new species detected. This research has conservation implications, which is pertinent given the inherent vulnerability of onychophorans to habitat modification and climatic change.
Onychophora ('velvet worms' or 'peripatus') is a phylum of invertebrates consisting of about 200 described species and many more undescribed. Lacking in both conspicuous morphological diversity and in molecular data, a detailed phylogeny that reconstructs the evolution of this group has remained elusive. I propose field collecting at key sites across northeastern Australia and New Guinea, where there is a stark scarcity of molecularsuitable collections. These collections are to be sequenced for phylogenetic analyses, from which the taxonomy will be revised and new species detected. This research has conservation implications, which is pertinent given the inherent vulnerability of onychophorans to habitat modification and climatic change.
| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 1/08/25 → 1/02/27 |