Evolution, biogeography and diversification of the ant genus Terataner

Internal Seminar: Francisco Hita Garcia, Staff Scientist, Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit (Economo Unit)

Title: Evolution, biogeography and diversification of the ant genus Terataner
 
Abstract: Terataner are conspicuous, predatory ants found in Africa and Madagascar that display an interesting evolution of two different biological lifestyles. Species from Central Africa are strictly arboreal, nest in rotten parts of living trees far from the ground, and have typical ant queens with wings. The remaining species from East Africa and Madagascar live in the lower vegetation, nest in twigs, and have wingless queens. The evolution of geographical groups with different reproductive strategies and dispersal abilities is of great importance for the biogeography of the genus. Based on an integrative approach of comparative morphology and next-generation sequencing, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of the group and revealed where the wingless queens evolved and the lifestyle changed. Our results explain how one ancestral species colonised Madagascar from Africa once and subsequently dispersed and successfully diversified into 50 species.

Refreshments will be served afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Internal Seminar Organizing Committee:

Bianca Sieveritz

Rob Campbell

Maggi Mars-Brisbin

Yunhui Zheng

Jonathan Ward

Lauren Dembeck

Jigyasa Arora

Maéva Techer