Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Molecular phylogeny and phylogeography of nocturnal primates (Galagoides spp) in Eastern Africa

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This project will contribute to a better understanding of the cryptic diversity within dwarf galagos in Eastern Africa, integrating genetic, morphological and bio-acoustic data. This study will strive to 1) describe the genetic relationship within and among currently recognized dwarf galago species and, 2) test the importance of vocal communication in maintaining reproductive isolation between cryptic species. The project will yield the most comprehensive molecular assessment of galagid evolutionary relationships undertaken to date and will help elucidate likely causes of diversification and speciation among cryptic primates. From a conservation perspective, it will contribute to understand the diversity of nocturnal galagids in Eastern Africa, which is crucial for developing effective conservation and management programs. The study also promotes international collaboration at many levels.Understanding and describing biological diversity is one of the main goals for biologists. This task, however, is particularly challenging when speciation is not always accompanied by noticeable morphological change. An appreciation of such cryptic species is not only important for better understanding biological diversity, but it may also affect our ability to explore models and patterns of speciation. Nocturnal dwarf galagos (Galagoides) are among the most morphologically cryptic of all primates and their evolutionary history is one of the most longstanding problems in primatology. Given the lack of morphological differentiation, galago species have been mostly described based on their advertisement calls. Within galagids, acoustic communication plays a critical role and vocal signals are used to maintain contact with other members of the same species and to attract mates. Species cohesiveness is therefore likely to be maintained by non-visual recognition systems, and advertisement calls have been suggested to play a critical role in reproductive isolation. The lack of genetic data, however, has not allowed testing of whether specific differences in vocal signals can really contribute to species cohesion, and whether "vocal species" are actually genetically distinct.