G.E. (Gonçalo) Themudo, PhD
Phylogenetics, phylogeography, herpetology
Research interests
I am currently interested in patterns of speciation across species flocks. Morphological differentiation is remarkable in closely related species. I started my research in CIBIO, Portugal as an undergraduate focusing on a hybrid zone of salamandrid newts (Triturus (marmoratus) marmoratus vs. T. (m.) pygmaeus) with a complex spatial pattern. Currently, for my PhD in Naturalis, I developed nuclear markers to study the T. cristatus group in collaboration with CIBIO. This group of newts occurs across Europe with parapatric contact between species. Hopefully, the markers I am developing will reveal interesting patterns of hybridization and introgression. The ultimate goal of my research is to link genetic variation with morphology and ecological variables.
Publications
Naturalis RepositoryBook chapters
Espregueira Themudo, G. and J. W. Arntzen 2008 Triturus marmoratus in: Atlas dos anfíbios e répteis de Portugal (eds. Armando Loureiro, Nuno Ferrand, Miguel Carretero).
Papers in peer-reviewed journals
Espregueira Themudo, G., B. Wielstra and J. W. Arntzen. (2009). Multiple nuclear and mitochondrial genes resolve the branching order of a rapid radiation of crested newts (Triturus, Salamandridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.03.024)
Espregueira Themudo, G., W. Babik, and J. W. Arntzen. (2009). A combination of techniques proves useful in the development of nuclear markers in the newt genus Triturus. Molecular Ecology Resources. (doi:10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02574.x)
Arntzen, J. W., and G. Espregueira Themudo. 2008. Environmental parameters that determine species geographical range
limits as a matter of time and space. Journal of Biogeography 35: 1177-1186.
Arntzen, J. W., G. Espregueira Themudo, and B. Wielstra. 2007. The phylogeny of crested newts (Triturus cristatus superspecies): nuclear and mitochondrial genetic characters suggest a hard polytomy, in line with the paleogeography of the centre of origin. Contributions to Zoology 76:261-278.
Espregueira Themudo, G., and J. W. Arntzen. 2007b. Newts under siege: range expansion of Triturus pygmaeus isolates populations of its sister species. Diversity and Distributions 13:580-586.
Espregueira Themudo, G., and J. W. Arntzen. 2007a. Molecular identification of marbled newts and a justification of the Triturus marmoratus and T. pygmaeus species status. Herpetological Journal 17:24-30.
Papers in preparation
Espregueira Themudo, G., A. Bickham Baird and J. W. Arntzen. Newts in space: Geography helps in the distinction between gene flow and incomplete lineage sorting.
Espregueira Themudo, G. and J. W. Arntzen. in prep.Phylogeography of marbled newts.
Wielstra, B., G. Espregueira Themudo and J. W. Arntzen. in prep. Phylogeography of Triturus karelinii.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011