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Ashalakshmi C N
E-mail: ashalakshmi@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Phone: +91 80 2293 2506 ext. 313
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My broad interest lies in applying
genetics to conservation biology.
Currently I am involved in a DBT funded multidisciplinary project
titled “Delimiting species boundaries among Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus)”. Hanuman
langur is one of the most widely distributed primate species in India with
high degree of morphological and genetic variability. The project merges
genetics, morphology, behavior and ecology to clarify species status of
different Hanuman langur populations.
My role includes carrying out the genetic
analyses. Using one mitochondrial and several nuclear markers, I am trying
to find out how many species of Hanuman langurs does multi-locus molecular
data supports. Moreover I am plotting these genetic data to previously
defined taxonomical species in order to obtain a robust taxonomy of Hanuman
langurs.
The challenging aspect of
this work involves the use of non-invasive sources of DNA such as feces
where as the keen part include the molecular analyses involving
phylogenetic and population genetic tools .
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Aniruddha DAtta Roy
E-mail: roy@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Phone: +91 80 2293 2506 ext. 313
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I am
interested in the evolutionary history of the endemic fauna of Western
Ghats. In this regard, I plan to use molecular tools to test various
biogeographical hypotheses, such as Gondwanan origin or Southeast Asian
affinity. To address this question I am using Lizards of the family
Scincidae as a model system. Skinks are an ancient lineage, originated in
Gondwana supercontinent around 200 Million years ago. Currently, they
are the second largest family of lizards in the world. I am also building a
phylogeny of Indian skinks, which includes 19 genera constituting approximately
61 species out of which 32 are endemic to India. In the Western Ghats
alone, the number of endemic species are 16. I am also interested in the
widely distributed genus Mabuya, which has been recently divided
into four different genera based on molecular phylogeny (Mausfeld et al,
2002, 2003). This work recommended placing the Asian Mabuya species
in a separate genus Eutropis. But here only five among the 19
species of Indian Mabuya were used. I am interested to ascertain whether
the other Indian species of the genus Mabuya would also fall into
the same lineage as that of the Eutropis.
Apart
from this work, I am also interested in the herpetofauna of the Northeast
India, partly because I was born and brought up there and partly because it
is a very interesting biogeographic region. It sits in the confluence
of multiple biogeographic sub zones with fauna that is derived from both
central and peninsular India, the Himalayas, and the Southeast Asia. Very
little work has been done on the Northeast Indian herpetofauna. To bridge
this gap I am planning on expanding my area of interest to Northeast in the
future.
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Chetan Nag K S
Email: chetan@ces.iisc.ernet.in Phone: +91 80-22932786 ext-313
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I am presently involved
in a Department of Biotechnology, Government of India project titled
“Delimiting species boundaries among Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus
entellus)” as a senior research fellow. The
taxonomic status of Hanuman langurs of India (Family: Cercopithecidae,
Subfamily: Colobinae) remains unresolved where most authors split Hanuman
langurs to be a single species, Semnopithecus
entellus, but divide this
species into 14, 15, and 16 subspecies. Others split Hanuman langurs to as
many as two, four, seven distinct species based only on variation in
morphological characters. In the light of the existing ambiguities in
Hanuman langur literature, I am currently interested in a systematic study of
different morphotypes of Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) wherein morphological characters in
conjunction with ecological, behavioral, data will be used to understand the
conservation status and taxonomic position of these langurs from peninsular
India.
My preliminary observations from field suggest
that there are at least four distinct morphotypes in peninsular India. Therefore there might be multiple species
of Hanuman langurs in peninsular India.
My broad
interests are in fields of Ecology, Evolution &, Biogeography.
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Aparna Lajmi
Email: aparna.lajmi@gmail.com Phone: +91 80-22932786 ext-313 |
I completed my
Masters in Neurobiology before joining the lab in 2010. My areas of
interest are systematics, evolutionary history of organisms and
biogeography.
I am working on
a species of gekkonid lizard called Hemidactylus brookii, which is
widely distributed. This group is known to be a complex of species for more
than 70 years. While recent work has elevated the status of African and
northern South American subspecies to the level of new species, it is known
that the ‘true’ H. brookii has a south Asian origin.
My work
involves identifying different clades of this cryptic species in India,
through the use of molecular phylogeny, and unique morphological characters
associated with each clade.
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