Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Department of Integrative Biology University of California, Berkeley
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Research Group Members

Sampath Lokugalappatti

PhD Student (University of Stellenbosch)

Email: lgs [at] sun.ac.za

Thesis title:
Climatic perturbations and speciation of southern and eastern African Bulbuls (family Pycnonotidae)

Co-supervised with: Prof Jon Fjeldså (University of Copenhagen) and Dr Bettine van Vuuren (University of Stellenbosch).

 

Field of Interest
I completed my BVSc (hons) in Veterinary Sciences (2001) and MSc in Fish and Wildlife Management (2005) at the University of Peradeniya , Sri Lanka before joining the evolutionary genomic at Stellenbosch University, group for my doctoral study. My secondary education enabled me to have a much greater understanding and knowledge of the concepts and issues involved in conservation and a wider appreciation of the roles veterinarians can play in effective conservation strategies.

I have passion for conservation biology and my research interests lie chiefly in conservation genetics and disease ecology of wild species. My MSc research focused on the assessment of diversity parameters of the ground living amphibian fauna on the campus of the University of Peradeniya . My PhD research is titled Climatic perturbations and speciation of southern and eastern African Bulbuls (family Pycnonotidae) and is focused on the molecular systematics and phylogeography of endemic African Bulbul/Greenbul species complexes.

 

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Publications
  • Lokugalappatti, L.G.S., Feldheim, K.A., Sellas, A.B. and Bowie, R.C.K. (2008) Isolation and characterization of 10 tetranucleotide microsatellite loci from the yellow-streaked greenbul (Phyllastrephus flavostriatus) and cross-species amplification in four closely related taxa. Molecular Ecology Resources. 8: 622-624.

  • Fjeldså, J., Johansson, U.S., Lokugalappatti, L.G.S. and Bowie, R.C.K. (2007) Diversification of African greenbuls in space and time: linking ecological and historical processes. Journal of Ornithology 148: S359-367.

  • Johansson, U.S., Fjeldså, J., Lokugalappatti, L.G.S. and Bowie, R.C.K. (2007) A nuclear DNA phylogeny and proposed taxonomic revision of African greenbuls (Aves, Passeriformes, Pycnonotidae). Zoologica Scripta 36: 417-427.

 

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