José L. Reyes-Hernández defends his thesis at the National History Museum Denmark

PhD defence: José L. Reyes-Hernández

Systematics and evolution of Staphylininae rove beetles with a focus on Amblyopinina (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) and methodological exploration

Supervisor
Associate Professor Alexey Solodovnikov, NHMD

Assessment Committee
Professor Niklas Wahlberg, Lund University – Sweden
Professor Stylianos Chatzimanolis, University of Chattanooga – USA
Associate Professor Peter Hosner (chair), NHMD

Abstract
This thesis focuses on the phylogenetic systematics of the large rove beetle subfamily
Staphylininae, particularly the poorly known subtribe Amblyopinina. By integrating and
exploring phylogenomics, comparative morphology of the extant and extinct species,
geometric morphometrics and ecological niche modeling, the study aims to understand the evolutionary relationships within these groups, and to refine their systematics accordingly, at various taxonomic levels. The phylogenomic core of this work is based on the Anchored Hybrid Enrichment, and uses various methods of statistical phylogenetics. The taxonomic output includes a major update of the higher classification of Staphylininae including descriptions of new subtribes, new genera and species in the revisionary framework. The thesis is a collection of published or submitted papers, as well as manuscripts nearly ready for submission, all interconnected and each presented as a separate chapter. One of the papers is a methodology-centered exploratory collaboration with the data scientist as a lead author; it explores the performance of machine learning for inferring a phylogeny of rove beetles from habitus images.

A digital version of the PhD thesis can be obtained from the PhD secretary at phd@snm.ku.dk before the defence.
After the defence the thesis will become available from the Royal Danish Library Royal Danish Library | kb.dk.