Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/B000125/1
Bridging the gap between ecological and evolutionary timescales: tooth wear, niche differentiation and speciation in living and fossil fishes
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor M Purnell, University of Leicester, Geology
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor P Hart, University of Leicester, Biology
- Grant held at:
- University of Leicester, Geology
- Science Area:
- Freshwater
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Freshwater
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Palaeobiology
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Population Ecology
- Community Ecology
- Abstract:
- Understanding the ecological controls on the origin of new species is central to understanding evolution. Furthermore, this process of speciation is the 'ultimate motor driving biodiversity', with significant implications for conservation biology and for evaluating how organisms respond to environmental change. But there is a fundamental problem in the study of speciation: field and laboratory experiments take place over the limited spans of human timescales, a few decades at best, yet species originate over much longer intervals of time. Our research aims to bridge this gap using a new technique. By analysing the microscopic wear patterns that form on a fishes teeth as it feeds we will be able to interpret the dietary preferences and feeding ecology of fossil fishes, and test the hypothesis that speciation and evolutionary change were driven by shifts in feeding and competition for food.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/B000125/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £219,602
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Staff | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £10,284 | £126,670 | £24,379 | £58,268 |
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