9301940 Owen This Americas Program award will support a research collaboration between Prof. Guillermo Owen of Texas Tech University, and Prof. Cornelio Sanchez-Hernandez of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) and Prof. Ricardo Lopez Wilchis of the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Iztapalapa, Mexico. The purpose of the research is to conduct biodiversity studies in Michoacan, the western end of the transverse volcanic belt of southern Mexico. The principal investigator and his collaborators will conduct a survey of mammals, and their ectoparasitic arthropods, focusing on questions of regional biodiversity and biogeography. Combined genetic, morphological, karyotypic, and ectoparasitic data from each specimen will provide a powerful tool for evaluating systematic and biogeographic phenomena from an evolutionary perspective. ***
