Principal Investigator
Tiago Quental
tbquental@usp.br
I am an evolutionary biologist interested in a spatial and temporal understanding of biodiversity patterns and phenotypic evolution.
Post-docs
Lucas Porto
Grad Students
Gabriel Garcia
Luan Motta
In his master's thesis, Luan is focusing on the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) to investigate how the asymmetric interchange played out at local/community spatial scale. In particular, he is testing the hypothesis that the asymmetry is also dictated by the distance to the connection between the continents.
Salatiel Gonçalves Neto
In my masters thesis I aim to investigate if the probability of extinction in Canidae is related to the lineage’s age by delimiting adaptive zones not phylogenetically or taxonomically, but ecologically.
Nathália Caldeira
I’m about to start soon my masters programe and I am still trying to find my way through the fascinating world of macroevolution. As of now, my broader interests are: how extinction shapes biodiversity, mass extinctions aftermath and recovery of biodiversity, how biodiversity in the sea and in land differ, and links between micro and macroevolution.
Undergrad Students
Thais Piazza
Thais' undergraduate research aims to study what factors migth control the quality of the fossil record. More specifically, she will quantify how the quality of the fossil record varies among Carnivora (Mammalia) groups, investigate if fossil record quality shows phylogenetic signal, and if body size is associated with fossil record quality.
Gloria Gillung
Gloria's undergraduate research aims to study interspecific competition and community assembly at local scale at deep time using the fossil record of Canidae.
Alumni
Daniel Caetano
caetanods1@gmail.com
The central focus of my research is to understand the pattern and processes of trait evolution through long time scales using phylogenetic trees. My research is divided into development of new phylogenetic comparative models of trait evolution and empirical studies of macroevolution with multiple study systems.
Laura Alencar
alencarlrv@gmail.com
Laura was a postdoctoral researcher from 2017 to 2019. She combines natural history, morphological, geographical and phylogenetic information with the application of statistical models to understand the patterns and processes shaping the radiation of vertebrates, mainly squamate reptiles. At LabMeMe, she explored the drivers of species coexistence dynamics in snakes and lizards. We also developed some ideas on how population and microevolutionary processes translate into macroevolutionary signals. She is currently a postdoctoral associate at Dr. Martha Muñoz’s lab at Yale University.
Gustavo Burin
gustavoburin@usp.br
My main interests are related to trait-dependent diversification , and to how biological interactions affect the diversification dynamics of different groups. Ohter research interests are related to assessing the influence of total biomass availability (with Net Primary Productivity and Biome area as proxies) on the diversification of different groups of vertebrates, as well as trying to understand how some groups can achieve a huge species diversity. I am also interested in method development and performance testing. Lastly, I am an open science enthusiast, and want to start blogging about it, general science and my personal interests in the near future.
Matheus Januario
mjlopessousa@gmail.com
My aim is to understand the role of extinction in the diversification dynamics of Ruminants.
Rodolfo Graciotti
rpgraciotti@gmail.com
During my time at USP I worked in comprehending the macroevolutionary processes that shaped diversity in deep time, with special focus on studying how interspecific competition could affect the diversification dynamics of Canidae (Mammalia).
Mathias Pires
mathiasmpires@gmail.com
My main research interest is in the ecological causes and consequences of biological extinctions. My current research project aims to understand macroevolutionary consequences of ecological interactions, more specifically, the interactions between immigrant and resident species and the role of these interactions in shaping diversification dynamics of mammalian lineages. I am now an associate professor at UNICAMP.
Mauro Sugawara
maurotcs@gmail.com
Mauro finished his MSc. in 2015. He worked with the diversification dynamics of Placentalia, integrating data from the fossil record and from molecular phylogenies trying to identify which mammal orders are in decline of diversity. He is now a PhD. candidate at the University of British Columbia in Dr. Matt Pennell's lab.
Daniel Latorre
danielvdelatorre@gmail.com
Daniel finished his MSc. in 2015. In his thesis, he aimed to assess the macroecological patterns of morphological disparity and body mass distribuition in mammals. He is now a PhD. candidate at the University of California Berkeley in Dr. Charles Marshall's lab.