Michael J. Jowers

I am an evolutionary biologist with broad interests in the processes and the timings of speciation. Most of my work has focused on tropical island biogeography, phylogeography, systematics, taxonomy and conservation. My lines of research have focused on evolutionary patterns and processes, mostly through the assessment of biological and ecological effects on speciation and the tempo and mode of such. The knowledge I have acquired over the years concerns mainly evolutionary biology questions through population genetics, phylogeography and biogeography. I use the phylogenetic species concept approach to assess the taxonomy of poorly known herpetological species, mostly from the Lesser Antilles and Northern Venezuela, but also from other geographical areas (ie., the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia) Most of my work has focused on reptiles and amphibians from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago (West Indies) and I continue to do so. Besides working on herps I work on the other organisms such as social insects, scorpions, freshwater fish, mammals, birds and parasites.