Jake
Esselstyn
PhD
Candidate
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Biodiversity Research Center
University of Kansas
1345 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045 USA
phone: (785) 864–4066
fax: (785) 864–5335
esselsty@ku.edu
My
research focuses on the evolutionary history of
Southeast Asian mammals. I am especially interested in why
some
lineages have diversified extensively, while others have not.
Are there features of particular landscapes or geological
processes that promote diversification, or are aspects of the organisms
themselves the primary factors determining diversification rates?
Are rates of speciation and extinction fundamentally
different on
islands than on continents? Do clades typically diversify
through
a process involving
increased rates of speciation or reduced rates of extinction?
Although I
am primarily interested in macro-evolutionary
questions such as these, I recognize that theory is limited by the
foundation on
which it lies. Thus, I place a premium on the collection of
basic
natural history data that allow the delimitation of species and clades
as well as
their distributions. It is impossible to work
in SE Asia without becoming deeply concerned for the conservation of
nature; I hope my work will provide useful information to
conservation biologists and government agencies alike, and facilitate
their
efforts to sustainably manage biodiversity.
A sampling of endemic diversity
from the Philippine Archipelago:
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