Chameleon (Reptilia : Chamaeleonidae) Phylogeny, Biogeography and Continental Speciation in Madagascar

变色龙（爬虫类：变色龙是马达加斯加和印度洋最壮观的物种群之一，有近100种（包括本研究将要描述的新种）。 虽然这个热带群体表现出许多理想的功能，了解岛屿之间和大陆内的物种形成过程，我们目前缺乏一个强大的了解物种的关系。 该项目将产生基于分子DNA和形态学数据的第一个全面的物种水平的物种发生学，再加上GIS和新开发的分布建模算法，预计将推进我们对促进物种形成和生物多样性产生的过程的认识。 特别是，过去的古气候变化驱动物种形成的潜在作用是要研究的。 该项目是第一个将现代物种的进化历史与古气候变化相结合的项目之一，其结果有望提高我们对大陆上产生新物种的过程的理解：这是现代生物学中一个尚未解决的问题。 本研究还整合了新类型的数据（遥感卫星数据，GIS环境层，物种分布模型和分子数据），以探索其他应用，包括加速新物种的发现，制定保护策略。预测物种对未来气候变化的反应。

Chameleon (Reptilia: Chamaeleonidae) phylogeny, biogeography, and continental speciation in MadagascarChameleons represent one of the most spectacular species groups in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean, with almost 100 species (including new species to be described by this study). Although this tropical group exhibits many desirable features for understanding processes of speciation between islands and within continents, we currently lack a robust understanding of species relationships. This project will produce the first comprehensive species-level phylogeny based on molecular DNA and morphological data, which coupled with GIS and newly developed distribution modeling algorithms, is expected to advance our knowledge of processes that promote speciation and the generation of biodiversity. In particular, the potential role of past paleo-climatic change driving speciation is to be studied. This project is one of the first to integrate evolutionary histories of modern species with paleo-climatic change, and results are expected to improve our understanding of the processes that produce new species on continents: a topic still very much unresolved in modern biology. This study also integrates new types of data (remotely sensed satellite data, GIS environmental layers, species distribution models, and molecular data) to explore other applications including accelerating the discovery of new species, developing conservation strategies. and predicting species responses to potential future climate change.