Small mammals of Eastern African Mountains: evolutionary diversification and endemism in one of the world´s most important biodiversity hot-spots (2020–2022)

Estimation of spatial biodiversity pattern and predictions of its future changes currently rely on species distributions, which are often biased even in well studied taxa like mammals, because: (i) they are based on incorrect/incomparable species delimitations and still floating alphataxonomy; (ii) even the geographic distribution of taxa sufficiently defined by integrative taxonomic approach is poorly known, especially in tropical regions. Using the unique set of small mammals collected during last 30 years across all major parts of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the most important centres of endemism on Earth, we aim: (i) to re-evaluate biodiversity patterns by standardised measures of phylogenomic and functional diversity; (ii) to test alternative evolutionary hypotheses for processes leading to high biodiversity/endemism, in particular to identify the role of local geomorphology and past climate changes. Besides the understanding of evolutionary mechanisms forming biodiversity hotspots, the project will bring direct implications for nature conservation.