RUI Collaborative Research: Systematics and Biogeography of Mite Harvestmen of the Australian Wet Tropics

Why do rainforest habitats support such a large diversity of animal life? One way to approach this question is to test hypotheses about the evolutionary origins of that diversity. This research project will use modern genetic tools to test the hypothesis that fragmentation of forest habitats during the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 18,000 years ago drove the speciation process in a group of tiny arachnids, the mite harvestmen, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia. In addition, the researchers will name and describe many species of this poorly known animal group that are new to science. Specimens will be deposited in the Queensland Museum and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and will be available to professional biologists through loans from the museums.

Over the course of this project, six undergraduate students will participate in fieldwork in Queensland, and at least 20 undergraduates will be trained in lab research techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and DNA sequencing. Student learning will happen both during the summer months, when students will be supported to work full-time on independent research projects, and as part of coursework at Macalester College. In addition, the researchers will work with outreach staff at the Bell Museum of Natural History (University of Minnesota) to disseminate the results of this work to the public through talks and exhibits.