Fossil history and phylogeny of tenrecs (Tenrecidae) and golden moles (Chrysochloridae), both insectivoran-grade placental mammals endemic to Africa and Madagaskar

• Applicant: Dr. Robert Asher
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2004 to 2007
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5439205

The goal of this project is to test phylogenetic questions of two African mammal groups, tenrecs (Tenrecidae) and golden moles (Chrysochloridae), within a recently identified clade of endemic African mammals, known as the Afrotheria. The focus will be on the anatomical diversity and fossil history of each group. Morphological data for living and fossil taxa will be collected from museums throughout Europe and Africa, thereby providing a historically-informed hypothesis of the evolution of both groups. In combination with ongoing work sampling DNA sequences for Afican insectivorans, new data will be used to test three hypotheses: 1) tenrecs and golden moles comprise a clade adjacent to elephant shrews within Afrotheria; 2) fossil tenrecs and golden moles fall within the morphological diversity shown by extant groups; and 3) a single colonization event by tenrecs of Madagascar occurred, resulting in the monophyly of the island bound taxa relative to their living and fossil mainland relatives.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants