Revision and Phylogeographic Analysis of Pacific Island Succineid Land Snails

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A grant has been awarded to Dr. Robert H. Cowie of the University of Hawaii to work on the evolutionary biology of a major group of Pacific island land snails. The project will undertake a systematic revision of about 80 species that occur only on the islands of the Pacific and that are currently disappearing in the wake of habitat destruction and the depredations of alien species. In addition, the project will investigate the evolutionary and geographic origins of the species and the routes via which, over evolutionary time, they have colonized these myriad islands. The investigators will use both traditional analysis of anatomical variation among the different species of snails as well as modern DNA sequencing approaches and analytical methodologies.There are more known species of snails than of any other group of land animals except insects. Understanding the biology of this important component of biodiversity is therefore of basic significance in evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation. Nowhere, in relation to land area does land snail diversity reach that in the tropical/subtropical Pacific. Although previous studies have investigated the origins and diversification of Pacific island plants and animals, primarily of Hawaii, almost no work on any group has addressed both their geographic origins and their routes of colonization throughout the Pacific. The project therefore has the potential to dramatically advance understanding of Pacific biodiversity and create a model of its overall origins and evolutionary diversification. In addition, graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in techniques ranging from DNA sequencing to modern museum curatorial practices, thereby integrating research with a broad training experience. The undergraduates will likely be from minority community groups. Furthermore, by involving faculty and students from two University of Hawaii campuses, the project will enhance the research base of both and foster valuable collaboration between them.