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Research
The Beetle Tree of
Life
Coleoptera is the most diverse of the insect
orders, yet the reasons behind their tremendous diversity are still poorly
understood, in part because a strong phylogenetic foundation for the group
is lacking. I am currently working on an NSF-funded "Assembling
the Beetle Tree of Life" project in collaboration with researchers
at the University of Arizona, Brigham Young University, CSIRO, Harvard
University, and elsewhere to create the first comprehensive phylogeny of
the major beetle lineages.
I am especially interested in generating
new sources of genetic data for beetle phylogenetics, as previous efforts
using mitochondrial genes and ribosomal genes have encountered difficulty
resolving the ancient divergences at the base of the beetle tree.
To that end, I am working out protocols for several protein-coding nuclear
genes previously unused in beetle systematics.
Publications:
Wild, A. L., and D. R.
Maddison. 2008. Evaluating
nuclear protein-coding genes for phylogenetic utility in the Coleoptera.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, in press.
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