Evolutionary history, biogeography and systematics of land snails in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, as a crossroads of different biogeographical regions, has a high diversity of land snails. The region has undergone a complicated geological history, with the India-Eurasia collision and repeated Quaternary sea-level fluctuations most likely contributing to the diversification of land snails in the region. However, the level of diversity in some groups of Southeast Asian land snails is almost certainly underestimated, and their evolutionary history is still poorly documented.

Several land snail families, such as Camaenidae and Pupinidae, are highly diverse in the region. However, comprehensive systematic revisions and regional-scale biogeographic scenarios are still lacking, and the evolutionary relationships of these snail families remain elusive. Therefore, further research must focus on their systematics and evolution. This is particularly urgent as land snails are now declining due to habitat destruction caused by agricultural and urban development.

We will 
i) reconstruct the phylogeny of the major lineages of the Camaenidae and Pupinidae, with a focus on mainland Southeast Asian lineages, based on data from Sanger gene sequencing, ddRADseq and target exon capture 
ii) reconstruct the biogeographical history of the families Camaenidae and Pupinidae based on their phylogeny 
iii) use some lineages within the families Camaenidae and Pupinidae as models to determine the effect of glacial-interglacial sea-level fluctuations during the Quaternary on the divergence and diversification of Southeast Asian land snails 
iv) revise the taxonomy and systematics of some lineages within the families Camaenidae and Pupinidae.

The research may shed new light on larger biological scenarios such as the evolutionary mechanisms controlling the diversification patterns in mainland Southeast Asia. This is also important for planning conservation activities.