Reviving ghosts of taxonomy past: identifying cryptic species using high-throughput sequencing of historical museum specimens for asian ranids with gastromyzophorous tadpoles
My postdoctoral study is designed to develop protocols and procedures to obtain genomic DNA data from degraded old museum specimens using HTS (e.g., exome-capture and/ or mtDNA genome sequencing) using SE Asian frogs as focal taxa. Specimens housed in natural history museums are essential raw materials for studies of cryptic speciation that is very common in the tropics. These studies require molecular genetic tools that, to date, could only be applied to freshly collected tissue samples. Because HTS is based on short-fragment sequencing technology, it is more effective at obtaining sequence data from historical specimens than Sanger sequencing, particularly for very old samples collected more than 100 years ago. HTS methods will be tested to assess the phylogenetic and taxonomic position of the Asian ranid frogs with gastromyzophorous tadpoles, a group that has defied taxonomic clarification for decades. This proposed study is well aligned to the Work Programme of Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions. The results of this study will be a valuable baseline to assess the feasibility of and to improve exome-capture techniques aimed at retrieving historical DNA from type specimens for future studies. This study will be the first to investigate the evolution of gastromyzophory in Asian ranid frogs. It will also emphasize the need to apply modern techniques in tropical countries with high biodiversity as a critical step in quantifying its diversity and developing conservation actions for cryptic species. Apart from that, this study is an exceptional step towards advancing my career and establish myself as an independent researcher in the field of phylogenetics systematics. Furthermore, I will be able to actively contribute to disseminate my science to broader audience and play an important role as a catalyst for a long term collaborations between the institutions in Germany, USA, and Indonesia in phylogenomic, systematics, and biogeographic studies.