Oliver Hawlitschek

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Reptiles on Indian Ocean islands: phylogeny, biogeography, and the impact of environmental changes

This project targets reptiles on Western Indian Ocean (WIO) islands, especially on the Comoros.

Phylogeny: Reptiles of various groups inhabit these islands, about 50% of which are considered endemic. Preliminary studies conducted in the course of my diploma thesis 2008 indicate a large amount of cryptic diversity, which means that the true degree of endemism may be much higher than previously thought, which is to be clarified by phylogenetic studies.

Biogeography: The fauna of WIO islands is a mixture of elements from the afrotropical and Malagasy faunal regions. I will use molecular clock approaches to clarify the patterns of colonization of these mostly oceanic islands. WIO islands may also aid in biogeographical studies of the adjacent faunal regions. Many reptile species endemic to these islands belong to genera which are more diverse in either Africa or Madagascar. The geological ages of some of these islands, especially the volcanic Comoros, are known with relative accuracy. Thus, the Comoroan species may provide calibration points for molecular clock studies of numerous afrotropical and especially Malagasy groups.

Environmental Changes: The major environmental changes the Comoroan fauna has to face are invasive species and climate change. Using ecological niche modeling, I will try to estimate their impact by predicting the potential distributions of endemic and introduced species. Using these data, I plan to propose red list stati according to the IUCN red list for all endemic reptile species studied.

Supervisor: Gerhard Haszprunar