Welcome to the homepage of Miguel Vences
The flash menu above will allow you to explore various aspects of my current and past research.
If your browser does not display the flash menu correctly use the following links and those at the bottom of the pages to browse through my scientific interests, CV, publications, and to continue to the homepage of the Vences lab at the Technical University of Braunschweig.
See slide show of amphibian and reptile diversity in Madagascar
Recent research highlights:
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Taxonomic revisions are always a prominent part of our work, but rarely as exciting as the recent discovery of an extremely colourful new species of snake from Madagascar, which we described as Liophidium pattoni. In fact, this species had been photographed several times before, but no specimens had become available to us previous to our own survey in the newly created Makira reserve in 2009.
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In a recent paper published in PNAS, we report on an unprecedented 
number of new species of frogs that we discovered in Madagascar using an integrated approach that combined an initial DNA barcode screening followed by focused bioacoustic and morphological comparisons. The results indicate the existence of an almost 2-fold increase in species numbers from the currently described 244 species to a minimum of 373 and up to 465. For the original article in PNAS, see here. For a selection of press coverage of this paper, see here.
Vieites, D.R., K. C. Wollenberg, F. Andreone, J. Köhler, F. Glaw & M. Vences (2009): Vast underestimation of Madagascar's biodiversity evidenced by an integrative amphibian inventory. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106: 8267-8272.
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With a team of researchers led by Claire Kremen and Alison Cameron from the University of California, Berkeley, we have recently translated our biogeographic and systematic amphibian data gathered over 15 years into precise conservation planning. As reported in the cover article of the 11 April 2008 issue of Science, distribution models and point distribution data of altogether over 2300 animal and plant species were used to determine priority areas for biodiversity conservation in Madagascar, and to propose new areas to be included in Madagascar's reserve network.
In a further recent paper in the "Perspectives" section of PLoS Biology, we argue that that proactive conservation efforts should be focused on Madagascar's amphibians, as this hyperdiverse fauna so far appears to be untouched by emergent diseases but will become highly threatened in the near future due to habitat destruction.
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Andreone, F., A. I. Carpenter, N. Cox, L. du Preez, K. Freeman, S. Furrer, G. García, F. Glaw, J. Glos, D. Knox, J. Köhler, J. R. Mendelson III, V. Mercurio, R. A. Mittermeier, R. D. Moore, N. H. C. Rabibisoa, H. Randriamahazo, H. Randrianasolo, N. Rasomampionona Raminosoa, O. Ravoahangimalala Ramilijaona, C. J. Raxworthy, D. Vallan, M. Vences, D. R. Vieites, C. Weldon (2008): The challenge of conserving amphibian megadiversity in Madagascar. – PLoS Biology 6: e118.
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The third edition of our Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar is available since October 2007 from Chimaira. The book has also been published as local language edition in Malagasy, financed through the World Bank Local Language Fieldguide Program. A full PDF of the Malagasy language version is available here.
Glaw, F. & M. Vences (2007): A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Third Edition. – Köln, Vences & Glaw, 496 pp. (ISBN 978-3-929449-03-7).
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See Sample Pages of the Field Guide
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An extensive summary of current knowledge on mechanisms of species formation prevalent in amphibians was published in 2007 in the book series "Amphibian Biology", by M. Vences and D. B. Wake. The chapter also includes a survey of studies of phylogeography in amphibians, and tries to outline major promising fields of further research.
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Mantellid
frogs from Madagascar are characterized by a particular osteological
feature, the so-called intercalary elements between terminal and subterminal
phalanges of fingers and toes. Mantellids contain one lineage (Laliostoma
labrosum) without such intercalary elements and thereby provides the clearest example of secondary loss of this character. I recently contributed to a paper by Adriana Manzano and Marissa Fabrezi that studies the morphology of these skeletal elements and associated muscles across a wide taxon sampling of Recent anurans, and interprets the presence of these elements - or of its developmental genetic basis - as morphological novelty that originated early in the Neobatrachia.
Manzano, A., M. Fabrezi & M. Vences (2007): Intercalary elements, treefrogs, and the early differentiation of a complex system in the Neobatrachia. – The Anatomical Record 290: 1551-1567.
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The integration of molecular, biocoustic and morphological data have shown
that a very large number of undescribed amphibian species occurs
in Madagascar. Antoine Fouquet has analyzed molecular data from Neotropical
amphibians to obtain first estimates of cryptic diversity, and besides
distance-based and phylogenetic analyses also developed a method to analyse
cross-species data for isolation-by-distance and thereby isolate signals
of cryptic species. In a joint paper we estimate that Neotropical amphibian
diversity is severely underestimated, but also present evidence that genetically
similar populations of widespread species do exist in South America.
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Web by Sandra Nieto
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