Prashant P. Sharma
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  • Research
    • Phylogenomics >
      • Chelicerate phylogenomics
      • Scorpion phylogenomics
      • Sea spider phylogenomics
    • Evo-devo >
      • Harvestman Hox genes
      • Scorpion Hox genes
      • Evolution of the chelicera
      • RNAi in Phalangium opilio
      • Deutocerebral appendages
    • Genomics
    • Biodiversity discovery
    • Older (archived) projects >
      • Systematics >
        • Arthropod systematics >
          • Cyphophthalmi
          • Zalmoxidae
          • Basal Opiliones phylogeny
        • Laniatores
        • Bivalve systematics >
          • Basal bivalve phylogeny
          • Protobranch phylogeny
      • Biogeography >
        • Sandokanidae
        • Zalmoxoidea
        • Simulations and theory
  • Personnel
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    • Jesús A. Ballesteros Chávez
    • Caitlin M. Baker
    • Guilherme Gainett
    • Andrew Z. Ontano
    • Emily V.W. Setton
  • Lab Photos
  • Publications
  • Fieldwork
    • Australia 2014
    • Philippines 2014
    • Laos 2014
    • Australia 2015
    • Colorado 2018
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Andrew Zachary Ontano
​Graduate student
​Email: ontano at wisc dot edu

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Curriculum vitae (updated Nov 2020)

My Masters research in San Diego focused on the use of molecular phylogenies to test hypotheses about co-speciation of feather mites and birds. At UW-Madison, I have been working on the phylogenetic placement of pseudoscorpions in the chelicerate tree of life. On the phylogenetic side, I am interested in how taxonomic sampling can be used to mitigate long branch attraction artifacts. On the evo-devo side, I am using developmental genetic data and rare genomic changes from a pseudoscorpion genome to test competing hypotheses of phylogenetic placement. Most of my fieldwork and benchwork have focused on the Western Australian species Conicochernes crassus, which I hope will become a useful model system for study of comparative arthropod development.
Research snapshots:
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Collecting pseudoscorpions in Western Australia at dawn with Mark Harvey. August 2017.
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Like scorpions and tetrapulmonates, pseudoscorpions like Conicochernes crassus (panel b) exhibit an array of complex reproductive behaviors, like courtship dances and brooding of embryos. From Ontano et al. (in review).
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