Diving in the dark: Morphological diversity of subterranean beetles
Subterranean beetles from the Sturt Meadows calcrete
Immerse yourself in the strange world of Australia’s cave dwelling, subterranean beetles and learn sophisticated methods to research their morphological diversity and explore how this morphological diversity may have evolved.
This project will train you in cutting-edge morphometric methods, the statistical analysis of shape, and give you experience in museum collections.
Supervisor Dr Emma Sherratt is an expert is the statistical analysis of shape. Co-supervisor Professor Steve Cooper is a geneticist that studies speciation in underground desert aquifers.
Relevant citations for this project include:
- Evolution of subterranean diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae Hydroporini, Bidessini) in the arid zone of Australia - Evolution
- Fine‐scale comparative phylogeography of a sympatric sister species triplet of subterranean diving beetles from a single calcrete aquifer in Western Australia - Molecular Ecology
Supervisors
Co-supervisor: Professor Steve Cooper - Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity; South Australian Museum
Research area: Quantitative Morphology Group, School of Biological Sciences
Recommended honours enrolment: Honours in Evolution and Palaeobiology