DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Assessing the prevalence of pseudocongruent events in the formation of biotas: a study of fish taxa of the North American Central Highlands

This project investigates the biogeographical history of fishes of the Central Highlands of the eastern United States. The Central Highlands are known for their high level of biological diversity, including the highest concentration of freshwater fish species in the country. The goal of this project is to explain the complex distributional patterns of fish species in these regions to determine whether they can be explained by common evolutionary mechanisms. The evolutionary history of species will be analyzed using DNA sequences, and resulting phylogenetic trees will allow tests of the causes of current distribution patterns. The use of several genes in the phylogenetic analysis will allow precise dating of evolutionary events.

This project is significant because it will provide information on the evolutionary history of community structure and changes in species distributions in response to past climate change. An understanding of the history of species distributions will also help inform research on future changes in distribution. This research will also provide information valuable for conservation geneticists and will help set conservation priorities for Central Highlands fishes. Undergraduate students will be included in this research and will learn methods and techniques of molecular biology and genetic analysis.