Daniel Proud
Moravian University, PA·Ecology & Evolution·Early-career
Why do species live where they do, and what processes create new ones? Central America and the Caribbean islands have complex geological and climatic histories, which makes them a natural testing ground for these questions.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Biology
Genetics
- Topics
harvestmen
Opiliones
Laniatores
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2028
What they work on
- Build a phylogenomic framework for two Neotropical harvestman clades using ultraconserved elements (UCEs), drawing specimens from natural history museum collections and field expeditions.
- Use time-calibrated phylogenies to test whether vicariance or dispersal better explains present-day harvestman distributions across Central America and the Caribbean islands.
- Compare the timing and tempo of diversification among harvestman lineages on islands versus continents, examining spatial, clade-based and trait-based patterns of species richness.
- Delimit and describe harvestman taxa through integrative systematics based on phylogenetically informative characters, and digitize museum types and curate iNaturalist data.
More about the research
Harvestmen are arachnids in the order Opiliones, often called daddy long-legs. They are a strong model for studying how species become distributed across landscapes.
Why it matters
This work adds to the understanding of how geological and climatic history shaped species diversity in Central America and the Caribbean. Discovering new harvestman species could support conservation of critical habitats. Digitized museum specimens and curated iNaturalist records will make biodiversity data more publicly accessible.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
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The school
Moravian University: 1 labs on PI Pages.
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