Ph.D Student, Matt Medeiros
Research
interests
I study the evolution of flightlessness in Hawaiian moths. At least two
genera
of moths in Hawaii have evolved one or more flightless species.
These
species live in caves and alpine areas. I am using phylogenetic
methods
to determine whether flightless populations from different caves
are
all one species or species group that resulted from flightlessness
evolving
once, or whether flightlessness has evolved independently in
separate
caves. Likewise, I am working to see if the two alpine species
represent
one or more times that flightlessness has evolved. This work is
important
in terms of discovering whether certain ecological conditions
may
be likely to lead to insect flightlessness - a hypothesis that has
never
been tested while controlling for phylogeny.
Complete CV
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