| Project Detail |
Explaining mechanisms of morphological evolution in island birds
Understanding of numerous mechanisms underlying body size evolution across and within species remains elusive. This is mainly due to the complex interplay of different factors such as climate, diet, and interactions with competitors and predators. Islands are ideal natural laboratories for the exploration of these intricate mechanisms. The MSCA-funded ISLADAPT project will explain mechanisms of morphological evolution and species diversification in birds using biometric data from museums and phylogenetic information. ISLADAPT will also test the hypothesis that morphological changes on islands are associated with feeding niche breadth, analysing the diet composition of bird species from the Gulf of Guinea islands and the nearby mainland. The project will apply macroecological and microecological evolutionary approaches based on state-of-the-art methodologies such as metabarcoding and Bayesian analysis. |
