Research

Currently, this is the main research focus of undergraduate and graduate students at LAR-UFRN. Crossing the continent from northeastern Brazil to northern Argentina and eastern Bolivia, three adjacent biomes (Chaco, Cerrado, and Caatinga) form the so-called Diagonal of Open Formations (DFA), which lies between the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest. Our objective has been to use simulations of statistical phylogeography and coalescence to test different hypotheses about the evolution of the DFA biota. We are also interested in species boundaries using coalescent-based species delimitation approaches.

Currently, we have many articles published, in preparation, or submitted for publication addressing these topics in amphibians such as Boana raniceps, Pseudis tocantins (Fonseca et al., 2021), Proceratophrys cristiceps, Pithecopus azureus/nordestinus/gonzagai, and Dermatonotus muelleri; lizards such as Tropidurus hispidus, Polychrus acutirostris, Lygodactylus klugei; and snakes such as Philodryas nattereri and Bothrops erythromelas. Over the past few years, we have shown that the fauna of the Caatinga exhibits a signal of population co-expansion in the late Pleistocene (118–224 thousand years ago,  Gehara et al., 2017).

We have also indicated particularities for each species studied. Dermatonotus muelleri in the Caatinga is separated from D. muelleri in the southeast by millions of years, a process most likely produced by vicariance promoted by the central plateau (Oliveira et al., 2018). This northeastern population is a cryptic species, just as three undescribed species have been identified for Lygodactylus klugei (Lanna et al., 2018).