PhD topic: Reconstructing the evolution of Eocene ecosystems in southern Eurasia to better understand past mammalian dispersals
The late
Eocene and early Oligocene are paced by multiple dispersal events of Asian
mammals to Europe, Africa, up to south America, including anthropoid primates.
However, the mechanisms controlling these dispersals are poorly understood.
Anthropoid
primates are tropical arboreal mammals; many other mammals involved in these
dispersals used to thrive in the tropics. Their dynamics of expansion must thus
have closely mimicked the spreading of tropical forested ecosystems. This PhD
project proposes to reconstruct the dynamics of forested ecosystems along the
Paleogene Neotethyan shorelines in southern Eurasia, the most likely dispersal pathway
for Asian mammals to reach Europe and Africa.
The PhD
student will use paleobotanical proxies to study the type and evolution of
forested ecosystems and document their changes through time and space. The
study sites are spread along the Neotethyan shorelines, with a particular focus
on Anatolian and central Asian localities, where paleobotanical data are
lacking.
Forested
ecosystems will be reconstructed using complementary paleobotanical approaches:
palynology and paleoecology (i.e. the study of past vegetation composition by
means of pollen and spores) and paleoxylology (the study of fossil wood
anatomy). Both approaches allow a detailed reconstruction of forested
assemblages and qualitative/semi-quantitative insights into the local climate
(rainfall seasonality, aridity).
The PhD
student will be work at the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle (CR2P
laboratory) in Paris (advisor: Anaïs Boura) and at the Institute for
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) in Amsterdam (advisor: Carina
Hoorn). She/he will join a team of students, postdocs and scientists in the
framework of the ERC project DISPERSAL led by Alexis Licht (CEREGE), which aims
to build a theoretical and empirical basis for the mechanisms of large-scale
continental dispersal. Paleobotanical results of the PhD project will be
compared and interpreted with paleoclimatic and paleontological data acquired
by other members of the ERC team.
Starting
date: Fall 2023.
Funding: 3
years, from ERC DISPERSAL
Contacts:
Anaïs
Boura, anais.boura@mnhn.fr
Carina
Hoorn, m.c.hoorn@uva.nl
Alexis Licht,
licht@cerege.fr
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