| The primary focus of the work in my laboratory is the study of arthropod diversity. Arachnids and myriapods are the main study organisms I utilize with a particular emphasis on spiders of the infraorder Mygalmorphae (trapdoor spiders, tarantulas, & their relatives) and millipedes of the order Spirobolida. Although millipedes and trapdoor spiders are nontraditional evolutionary models they are ideal candidates for evolutionary studies because of their limited dispersal capabilities and thus tendency to become easily, and apparently quickly, isolated. My work on spiders and millipedes spans a number of hierarchical levels; in addition to being interested in higher level classification issues in spiders and millipedes I am also interested in alpha taxonomy, and use the insights gained in this most basic, yet important work, to consider questions about speciation process. Because evolutionary diversification is a complex, multifaceted process, the study of it, at all levels, requires an integrated phylogenetic approach. By using the insights gained through comparative morphology, molecular evolution, biogeography, ecology, and morphometrics, within the context of an explicit phylogenetic framework, I attempt to address questions regarding the pattern and process of diversification in these very interesting groups of organisms. |
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