N eIVsletter of
The Minnesota S o c 1 March 2002
Upcoming Meeting The Vice-president's Report By Tony Gamble April General Meeting Friday, April 5th , 2002, 7:00 PM Program: Systematics and Biogeography of New Guinea Scincid Lizards: a Molecular Genetic Perspective. Guest Speaker: Christopher Austin This month I got off easy. I normally ask upcoming speakers for a title and short description of their talk so I can put together this monthly column. April's speaker, Chris Austin went the extra mile and actually wrote a whole summary for his talk! It's so nicely worded I don't want to change any of it.
Volume 22 Number 3
na of New Guinea accounts for about 5% of the world's reptile and amphibian diversity. It is estimated, however, that 30-60% of the reptile and amphibian faunas remain to be described. The vast diversity of biological life on New Guinea is in part a result of the island's diverse array of habitat zones. The extensive range of habitat types occurs along the extreme elevation gradient from sea level to 4,500m. These myriad zones, packed into an area onetenth the size of the United States includes relictual tropical glaciers: montane moss forests, dense lowland rainforests, sago palm swamps, and Eucalyptus savannas. Geographically, New Guinea is on the border of one of the most distinct biogeographic demarcations in the world with Wallace's line separating the dramatically different Oriental and Australian faunas. The diversity of scincid lizards on the island of New Guinea is impressive, but patterns of island colonization and population structure are poorly known. My talk will discuss how molecular genetic data illustrates different modes of colonization, timing of colonization, description of new species, and species relationships. I will also discuss the use of genetic data to address questions related to the decoupling of morphological and molecular evolution and the use of comparative phylogeography to understand human movements and environmental impact in the Pacific."
"Islands are important biological systems for understanding speciation, patterns of biotic diversity, and human impact on the environment. The island of New Guinea, just north of Australia, is the world's largest and highest tropical island but occupies less than 0.7% of the earth's land surface. Amazingly, 5-7% of the world's biodiversity is found on New Guinea, and it has been identified as a 'megadiverse hotspot'. This incredible wealth of faunal and floral diver- Chris is currently an Assistant sity is poorly understood and inade- Professor of Biology at the University quately described. The herpetofau- of North Dakota. Past positions
include postdoctoral research at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, in Tokyo, Japan; a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship at the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia; a Meyer Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales; and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Chris has also appeared on the Animal Planet program "O'Shea's Big Adventure" highlighting his work with green-blooded skinks. Chris's talk will be quite user friendly and full of great slides of New Guinea and its herps. Don't miss it!
Friday, May 3 rd , 2002 -John Weins Friday, June 7th , 2002 Bill Duellman Jimmy Pellerin,
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