Understanding current patterns of diversity and distribution: How and when did Himalayan faunal elements evolve?

喜马拉雅-西藏造山带（HTO）的隆升对全球气候产生了重大影响，由于其巨大的海拔和河流切口，它可能发挥了物种形成泵的重要作用。然而，我们对HTO物种的历史生物地理学的认识还远远不够全面，对其隆升的时空演变的细节也很不全面。喜马拉雅在解释这些过程中起着关键作用。申请人的初步工作结果基于两栖动物的分子数据，提供了喜马拉雅动物组成的古西藏起源的初步迹象，挑战了长期以来中国-印度支那移民进入喜马拉雅的观点。然而，需要一种全面的系统地理学方法，需要从生物地理上重要的地区进行系统采样和扩展的分析框架，以查明喜马拉雅和邻近地区的多样化模式，并揭示在HTO中原位物种形成与定植的相对贡献。在这个项目中，申请人将使用四种精心挑选的陆地模型系统（刺蛙、懒蟾蜍、喜马拉雅蟾蜍和地面石龙子），它们在系统发育上足够古老，涵盖了一系列不同的传播能力和生态偏好。利用尖端的靶向外显子捕获技术，结合下一代DNA测序和最先进的系统发育分析，将测试不同的系统地理学假设（移民、变异、西藏外、古西藏起源），并估计分化时间。申请人的研究目标如下：i)在喜马拉雅南坡及周边山区进行详细的系统发育调查；ii)重建多样化/殖民化模式；iii)提供HTO成分（初次）抬升时间的生物学证据。申请人的合作伙伴可以获得几乎所有相关物种的博物馆样本，保证了该项目的快速进展。数据量和由此产生的统计能力将使我们能够以前所未有的力量得出关于殖民历史和HTO提升的结论。它还将有助于确定物种多样化的重要因素，并有助于了解HTO的第三纪环境条件。

The uplift of the Himalaya-Tibet Orogen (HTO) has significantly influenced the global climate and due to its massive elevations and river incisions it likely played an important role as a speciation pump. However, our understanding of the historical biogeography of species in the HTO is far from being comprehensive, as are details of the spatiotemporal evolution of its uplift. The Himalaya plays a key role in elucidating these processes. Results from the applicant’s preliminary work, based on molecular data from amphibians, provide initial indications for a Paleo-Tibetan origin of Himalayan faunal components, challenging the long-held belief of immigration from China-Indochina into the Himalaya. Yet, a comprehensive phylogeographic approach is needed, requiring a systematic sampling from biogeographically important regions and an extended analytical framework to pinpoint patterns of diversification in the Himalaya and adjacent regions and to uncover the relative contribution of in-situ speciation versus colonisation in the HTO. Within the project, the applicant will use four carefully chosen terrestrial model systems (spiny frogs, lazy toads, the Himalayan toad and ground skinks), that are sufficiently phylogenetically old and cover a range of different dispersal abilities and ecological preferences. Using cutting-edge targeted exon capture technology in combination with next generation DNA sequencing and state of the art phylogenetic analysis alternative phylogeographic hypotheses will be tested (immigration, vicariance, out-of-Tibet, Paleo-Tibetan origin) and estimate divergence times. The applicant pursues the following objectives with the study: i) Detailed phylogenetic inventory in areas along the southern slope of the Himalaya and surrounding mountain areas; ii) Reconstructing diversification/colonisation pattern; iii) Providing biological evidences for the time of (primary) uplifts of HTO components. Access to museum samples at the applicant’s collaboration partners’ disposal includes almost all relevant species, guaranteeing fast progress of this project. Data amount and resulting statistical power will allow drawing conclusions in an unprecedented power on colonization history and uplift of the HTO. It will also allow identifying factors important for species diversification and contribute to an understanding of the Tertiary environmental conditions of the HTO.