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Institution
The Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle
is the most important French institution (850 researchers) in the
field of natural science, including fundamental and applied research.
The participant laboratory is part of the ‘Département
Systématique et Evolution’, which includes 83 researchers
in systematics and evolution and a molecular laboratory (‘Service
de Systématique Moléculaire’).
Participants
The participant laboratory is the FRE 2695 CNRS
‘Unité Origine, Structure et Evolution de la Biodiversité
(OSEB)’, directed by Dr. L. de Harveng. The laboratory is
funded by the French Ministry of Research and by the French National
Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It includes 18 senior researchers
and 11 technicians from MNHN and CNRS, working on four themes in
the field of biodiversity evolution: phylogeography, phylogeny,
test of evolutionary models, and insularity. Numerous international
collaborations including participation to several European programs
(e.g. bilateral programs with Spain, Poland, European programs of
the DGXII, PASCALIS, TREAT-CONTROL, Fauna Europea, Eurocat) have
been undertaken by the laboratory. The participation of OSEB laboratory
of MNHN to Inco-Dev – TREAT CONTROL (ICA-2002-10050; ‘New
approaches to treatment and control of Lassa fever and yellow fever
in West Africa’) underlines the potential benefit of collaboration
between virologists, zoologists and systematists. One of our PhD
students obtained a Marie Curie fellowship on this program.
The laboratory trained students (Master, PhD, postdoctoral staff)
in the field of phylogeny and systematics, coevolution, biogeography,
with various approaches including morphology,morphometry, cytogenetics
and molecular systematics, using the most recent methods of analysis
(10-20 students are working in our laboratory each year). The laboratory
will provide to the participants of the project an appropriate place
to work, with fully equipped office with computer and all relevant
software. Installations comprise different rooms for extraction,
amplification and sequencing. Equipment includes 6 thermocyclers
and 1 fluorescence-based 8 capillaries electrophoresis system for
DNA sequencing (Beckman), and 1 fluorescence-based mono capillary
electrophoresis system for microsatellites (ABI). The laboratory
will offer an access to its tissue collection (the first in Europe
for the small carnivores), and to its scientific collection of mammals,
the second collection in Europe.
More than 120 papers have been published in the past 5 years in
major international journals.
Géraldine Veron is the senior scientist who is in charge
of the work programme focusing on zoology in the EPISARS Consortium.
She has a PhD in zoology (MNHN, Paris, 1994) and has been researcher,
curator of Mammal collection and curator of tissue collection, in
the laboratory since 1996. She is also associated editor of two
international scientific journals, ‘Mammalia’ and ‘Zootaxa’.
She is a specialist of small carnivore systematics, phylogeny and
conservation. She participates in the IUCN/SSC Mustelid, Viverrid
and Procyonid Specialist Group.
Since 1990, she has been working in the field of evolution, systematic,
phylogeny,conservation of carnivores, with both molecular and morphological
approaches. She studied the phylogenetic relationships of the Malagasy
carnivores in collaboration with J. Flynn (Field Museum, Chicago,
USA) and A. Yoder (Yale University, New Haven, USA), resulting in
a recent publication in ‘Nature’ (Yoder et al., 2003).
One other field of investigation is the phylogeny of small carnivores
and relationships between African and Asian faunas. The study of
systematics and conservation of the south-east Asian small carnivores
has been undertaken through international collaborations (J. Walston,
WCS, Cambodia; S. Heard and S. Roberton, FFI, Vietnam; B. Long,
WWF, Vietnam; L. Grassman, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand).
Since 1992, collaborations with F. Palomares from the CSIC (Spain)
have been undertaken on phylogeography and genetic structure of
the common genet (PhD Thesis of P. Gaubert). E. Randi from the INFS
(Italy) was the supervisor of one PhD student of MNHN on molecular
approach.
Participation of women: Géraldine
Veron, leader of the work programme 1.
Roles in the project
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Leader of the work programme 1 ‘search
for an animal reservoir’ (WP 1 to 5) and leader of WP
2.
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Expertise on small carnivore systematics,
phylogeny and conservation, and for molecular and morphological
identification of species.
Publications
5 recent publications:
1. Gaubert P & Veron G. (in press). Exhaustive sample set among
Viverridae reveals the sistergroup of felids: the Linsangs as a
case of extreme morphological convergence within Feliformia. Proceedings
of the Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences.
2. Veron G, Colyn C, Dunham AE, Taylor PJ, Gaubert
P. (in press). Molecular phylogeny of the mongooses (Carnivora,
Herpestidae) and origin of the sociality in this family. Molecular
Phylogenetics and Evolution.
3. Veron G. & Heard S. 2000. Molecular systematics
of the Asiatic Viverridae (Carnivora)
Inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence analysis. Journal
of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 38: 209-217.
4. Veron G., Heard Rosenthal S., Long B. &
Roberton S. (accepted). The molecular systematics and conservation
of an endangered carnivore, the Owston’s palm civet Chrotogale
owstoni (Thomas, 1912)
(Carnivora, Viverridae, Hemigalinae). Animal Conservation.
5. Yoder A. D., Burns M. M., Zehr S., Delefosse
T., Veron G., Goodman S.M., Flynn J.J. 2003.
Single origin of Malagasy Carnivora from an African ancestor. Nature
421: 734-737.
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