My dissertation research focuses on
molecular systematics, evolution, and taxonomy in the staphylinoid beetle family
Leiodidae.
Although leiodids are usually thought of as tiny, impossible-to-distinguish Little Brown Beetles, there in fact exists a surprising array of morphological diversity within the family.
The particular taxonomic emphasis of my research is the plesiomorphic subfamily Camiarinae and its largest tribe (Agyrtodini), both of which are poorly-understood groups found only in temperate forests of the southern hemisphere. Unlike your "typical" derived leiodid (say, Agathidium or Aglyptinus), camiarines are huge, hulking, and hairy-- the leiodid edition of a Neandertal. Given their dazzling paucity of derived characteristics, it's likely that the camiarines are a paraphyletic group containing the family's most basal lineage. I am collecting both morphological and molecular data in order to untangle the phylogenetic relationships of this unusual assemblage.
Fieldwork for this project has taken me to Australia, New Zealand, and Chile; within the next few years I hope to visit South Africa to collect the last few taxa needed for my dissertation. (hey, if you're sifting litter in KwaZulu-Natal, give me a holler!)
[Field photos]
I'm also interested in the optical mechanisms, evolution, and possible function(s) of iridescence in the natural world (beetles in particular, of course). Click here for the full Hinton.