Thesis supervisor: Jenő Nagy
Location of studies (in Hungarian): Élettudományi Központ Abbreviation of location of studies: ÉTK
Description of the research topic:
One of the major areas in the field of biogeography concerns multiple colonization events of the Nearctic and Neotropical regions. The trans-Beringian (from Asia), and the north (from Europe) and south (from Africa) trans-Atlantic pathways had important roles in the radiation of a wide variety of taxa, including less mobile insect groups in comparison to e.g. birds. However, they have been studied mostly in focal avian lineages and thus, the general pattern of the aforementioned dispersal routes across birds remains poorly understood. An increasing number of scientific publications examine the biogeographic origin of passerine birds (Aves: Passeriformes), and they have proposed several alternative hypotheses placing the major radiation hotspots in different biogeographical regions. The major aims during the programme are (1) to review the Southeast Asian origin of the Passeroid radiation on multiple levels, and (2) to identify key biogeographic events in the speciation of passerine lineages, especially focusing on (3) the role of trans-Atlantic and trans-Beringian dispersal routes, and on (4) the consequences of related historical changes in the variation in ecological (e.g. habitat, diet), life history (e.g. life span, clutch size) and behavioural traits (e.g. breeding biology, migration) of various avian taxa. To achieve these goals, modern phylogenetic and biogeographic comparative methods will be the main tools in a growing international scientific network.