The central goal of my research is to understand how biodiversity is generated, lost, and maintained. I focus primarily on squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes), the coolest animals on Earth. My research combines natural history, morphological, geographical, genetic and, more recently, physiological information to answer questions that will ultimately help us understand the mechanisms generating the patterns detected at large taxonomic, temporal and spatial contexts. Click here to download my CV.
I describe below some of my research interests and projects:
1. Thermal evolution in vertebrates: linking patterns and processes across scales
My goal here is to investigate thermal evolution in vertebrates by untangling the interplay of biological processes and underlying constraints across different levels of organization. This project is part of my current postdoc in Dr. Martha Muñoz's lab and is being carried out in collaboration with Dr. Josef Uyeda (Virginia Tech). More soon.
Speciation regimes during the radiation of vipers (Alencar et al. 2016 Mol Phyl Evol)
2. Patterns and processes shaping the diversification dynamics of reptiles
Reptiles have successfully colonized many habitats and microhabitats, eat different types of prey, and occur almost everywhere in the world. They are a highly heterogeneous group with disparities in species richness, phenotypic and ecological diversity across clades. My goal is to investigate the patterns and processes that shape the radiation of reptiles. In the past, I have explored the diversification dynamics of vipers and found that speciation rates have changed dramatically in a subgroup (Alencar et al. 2016). I also found that different habitats can affect the phenotypic evolutionary trajectory of vipers (Alencar et al. 2017).
While exploring the radiation of vipers, I noticed that we still needed a theoretical framework unifying micro- and macroevolution to explain these radiations. In collaboration with Dr. Tiago Quental, we developed a first step towards this new framework (Alencar & Quental 2021) - This study is a very nice example of how studying one group of organisms may not prevent you from thinking more broadly. On the contrary, the last years investigating the dynamics of viper diversity have truly inspired me to think about the general principles underlying explosive radiations in general.
The interaction between geographic expansion and reproductive isolation can shape speciation patterns at the macro scale (Alencar & Quental 2021 EcoEvo)
3. What determines species coexistence among squamates?
To understand how biological communities assembly and, to a greater extent, how biodiversity evolves, we need to understand what drives species coexistence. By integrating different sources of biological information, such as life history, morphological and geographic information, I am interested in untangling the drivers of species coexistence to understand why, where and when squamates coexist. The first work related to this project was recently published (Alencar & Quental 2023, link) and has relied heavily on scientific collections. Thanks to funding provided by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the Australian Museum (Visiting fellowship to LA), I was able to visit several collections to gather morphological information for several "sister" species of snakes and lizards.
4. Conservation of reptiles
My research integrates different sources of information. I use these resources to inform conservation planning and strategies for squamate reptiles. In Maritz et al. (2016), we identified species that should be prioritized in conservation planning and those for which important information is still missing. We combined geographic, ecological, and phylogenetic information to create indices to identify species and geographic regions for which conservation priorities should be focused. We also investigated why some New World pitvipers are rare and how these patterns of rarity are related to their threat status, phylogenetic and ecological aspects (see Birskis-Barros et al. 2019). In his undergraduate project, Luis Gustavo Leme - supervised by Dr. Marcio Martins and co-supervised by me - developed a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the current network of protected areas in protecting Neotropical viper species (Oliveira-Dalland et al. 2022).
Patterns of rarity across New World pitvipers -
Birskis-Barros et al. 2019 Diversity
Species richness of vipers across the world - Maritz et al. 2016 Biol. Cons.
5. Natural history of reptiles and amphibians
Natural history is essential to the understanding and conservation of biodiversity. Many amphibians and reptiles still lack information about their natural history, and I am interested in elucidating the natural history aspects of understudied reptiles and amphibians. It is always important to recognize that all of these macro studies depend entirely on natural history. Without this basic knowledge, we cannot go much further. Thus, I am always committed to spreading the word about the importance of natural history in my research and also in the education of future biologists.
Two male Boana polytaenia in São Francisco Xavier, SP, Southeastern Brazil
Can you see the frog?? Cycloramphus sp. in Macaé de Cima, RJ, Southeastern Brazil