Evolution of Neotropical Biodiversity: Phylogeny, Ecology, And

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Evolution of Neotropical Biodiversity: Phylogeny, Ecology, And Evolution of Neotropical biodiversity : phylogeny, ecology, and biogeography of Mesoeucrocodylia (Vertebrata Crocodyliformes) from the Miocene of Peruvian Amazonia Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi To cite this version: Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi. Evolution of Neotropical biodiversity : phylogeny, ecology, and biogeog- raphy of Mesoeucrocodylia (Vertebrata Crocodyliformes) from the Miocene of Peruvian Amazonia. Paleontology. Université Montpellier, 2015. English. NNT : 2015MONTS124. tel-01980120 HAL Id: tel-01980120 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01980120 Submitted on 14 Jan 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTPELLIER THÈSE Pour obtenir le grade de DOCTEUR DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTPELLIER Préparée au sein de l'école doctorale : Systèmes Intégrés en Biologie, Agronomie, Géosciences, Hydrosciences, Environnement (SIBAGHE) Spécialité : Paléontologie Présentée par RODOLFO SALAS-GISMONDI EVOLUTION OF NEOTROPICAL BIODIVERSITY: PHYLOGENY, ECOLOGY, AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE MESOEUCROCODYLIA (V ERTEBRATA: CROCODYLIFORMES) FROM THE MIOCENE OF PERUVIAN AMAZONIA Soutenue le 14 décembre 2015 devant le jury composé de M. Emmanuel Douzery, Professeur, Université de Montpellier Président M. Torsten Scheyer, Chercheur, Université de Zurich Rapporteur M. Diego Pol, Directeur de Recherches, Trelew Rapporteur M. Christian de Muizon, Directeur de Recherches, MNHN, Paris Examinateur M. Pierre-Olivier Antoine, Professor, Université de Montpellier Directeur de thèse M. Armando Valdés Velásquez, Professeur, Université Cayetano Heredia Co-directeur de thèse M. John J. Flynn, Professeur, Conservateur, AMNH New York Invité M. Stéphane Jouve, Conservateur-adjoint, Muséum de Marseille Invité ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I have to say that this work did not start with the Ph.D. program itself, this work started many years ago with the help of many people of different countries that, in one way or another, supported my dream of becoming a paleontologist. In this section I will express my gratitude in the language I can better explain my deep recognition to all of them. Dicho esto, quiero empezar agradeciendo a mis dos asesores, Pierre-Olivier Antoine y Armando Valdés Velásquez, por haber confiado en mi para realizar esta investigación. Yo les agradezco profundamente por su paciencia y apoyo durante estos tres años, por haberme motivado y conducido para dar este importante paso profesional en mi vida. Por consiguiente, agradezco profundamente a Pierre-Olivier Antoine, mi guía y aliado, el maestro y amigo que no vaciló nunca en hacer un esfuerzo adicional para que este proyecto se concrete. Gracias por todo el tiempo invertido, lo aprecio y respeto. Cada uno de sus consejos y enseñanzas durante estos tres años, y desde que nos conocimos, tanto haciendo trabajo de campo en la Amazonía de Iquitos como en el laboratorio, traslucieron su calidad humana y científica. He aprendido mucho sobre paleontología en todas nuestras conversaciones, por las cuales le estaré siempre agradecido. Además, estoy muy agradecido por el tiempo que pasé en Montpellier, por haberme hecho sentir como en casa, por proveerme de las mejores condiciones de trabajo y oportunidades para que esta investigación sea mejor cada día. Muchas gracias a Pierre-Olivier porque él y su familia –Maëva y Aloys –, fueron la mía en Montpellier. Yo le agradezco sinceramente a Armando Valdés Velásquez quien ha co-dirigido esta investigación desde Lima, Perú. A pesar de recién haberme conocido, Armando aceptó sin vacilar ser mi co-director. Le agradezco por las enseñanzas en cada conversación que tuvimos y la confianza que depositaste en mi, mostrando un compromiso desinteresado por llevar este proyecto adelante. Quiero agradecer a los revisores de la tesis, Torsten Scheyer y Diego Pol, por mostrar gran interés por mi trabajo y por haber aceptado evaluar esta investigación. Sus importantes carreras y obras científicas siempre me fueron inspiradoras. Asimismo, quiero expresar mi agradecimiento a los miembros del jurado, Emmanuel Douzery, Christian De Muizon, John Flynn y Stéphane Jouve. Agradezco a Stéphane por compartir sus conocimientos e ideas sobre cocodrilos fósiles conmigo en muchas conversaciones y misivas. Quiero hacer un reconocimiento especial a Christian de Muizon y a John Flynn. Desde que conocí a Christian hace muchos años en Lima cuando era director del Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos (IFEA), nos apoyó a Mario Urbina y a mi, para desarrollar la paleontología de vertebrados en el Perú. De allí en adelante siempre fue incondicional y su ayuda se hizo sentir en momentos decisivos de mi carrera. Junto a Jean Vacher y Niels Valencia, Christian me incentivó para que estudiara ciencias biológicas con ayuda de una beca del IFEA otorgada durante la gestión de Jean Vacher, a quien agradezco y aprecio. Asimismo, las oportunidades que Christian me dio para trabajar por algunos meses en el Museum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN) sirvieron para que yo revisara y estudiara las vastas colecciones de cocodrilos y así, empezara la revisión de los caracteres de los cocodrilos fósiles y actuales registrados en la matriz filogenética que en esta tesis incluyo. Christian me enseñó las bases de la ciencia llamada paleontología, por lo que lo considero mi mentor. A John Flynn lo conocí en el 2004 durante la primera expedición en la que yo participé a los yacimientos paleontológicos de la zona de Iquitos. Desde ese año, en cada campaña a Iquitos, cada descubrimiento lo hemos vivido y trabajado juntos, palmo a palmo, y lo hemos celebrado juntos con Siete Raíces Sour. A John le agradezco por haberme apoyado en la decisión incluir los cocodrilos de Iquitos como parte importante de mi doctorado. Además le tengo que agradecer por haberme facilitado estadías y becas para trabajar en la colección de cocodrilos del American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Incluso me brindó un espacio en el AMNH para enclaustrarme el último mes antes de entregar el manuscrito de mi tesis y poder terminarla a tiempo. También le agradezco por todos los intercambios epistolares en los que discutimos aspectos científicos de los artículos conformantes de esta tesis. Del AMNH, quiero agradecer a Ana Balcárcel por su extraordinario trabajo en el campo y en la preparación de fósiles en el laboratorio y a Carl Mehling por brindarme acceso a las colecciones de reptiles fósiles. Asimismo, expreso mi agradecimiento a Bruce MacFadden por haberme permitido ocupar por cuatro meses la Biblioteca Simpson del University of Florida Natural History Museum para escribir el segundo artículo de la tesis. Aprecio y agradezco mucho a Valerie DeLeon por haberme aceptado como alumno libre en la clase de morfometría geométrica en la University of Florida (UF); a Christopher Brochu, Paula Bona, Torsten Scheyer, Jorge Moreno-Bernal, Orángel Aguilera y Stéphane Jouve por facilitarme imágenes de cocodrilos fósiles; a Salvador Bailón del MNHN, Richard Hulbert y Kenneth Krysko de la UF, a Eberhard “Dino” Frey del Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Karlsrhue, Germany (SMNK), y a R. Schoch del Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Stuttgart (SMNS) por amablemente brindarme acceso a las colecciones de cocodrilos fósiles y actuales a su cargo. Quisiera expresar mi agradecimiento y respeto a todos y cada uno de los miembros del Institute des Sciences de l’Evolution (ISEM). En el ISEM hice muchos y grandes amigos, entre ellos mi compañero de ofici na Abdou Mahboubi y el “big chief” Laurent Marivaux. Agradezco a Maëva Orliac por su constante ayuda en análisis de filogenia, conversaciones sobre arte científico y por acogerme en su oficina los meses antes de la sustentación. Agradezco a Julien Claude y Renaud Lebrun por sus valiosas enseñanzas sobre morfometría geométrica. Aprecio mucho la ayuda que me brindó Anusha Ramdarshan para evaluar el mircrodesgaste en dientes de caimanes “moledores”. Agradezco profundamente a la Escuela Doctoral Franco-Peruana de Ciencias de la Vida (EDFPCV) por otorgarme una beca por tres años, sin la cual no habría sido posible hacer esta investigación; a José Espinoza, director de la EDFPCV y a Rebeca Caldas de contabilidad por su constante preocupación y ayuda. Asimismo, a las personas e instituciones, peruanas y francesas que conforman la EDFPCV y que siempre estuvieron dispuestas a resolver cualquier situación adversa durante estos tres años: a Fabiola León- Velarde, rectora de la Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; a Gisella Orjeda, presidenta del Concejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica; a Philippe Benassi agregado de Cooperación Universitaria de la Embajada de Francia en Lima y a su asistente Eliana Noriega; y particularmente a Jean-Loup Guyot, director en Lima del Institut de recherche pour le developpement (IRD), quien me ha brindado su consejo y amistad en todo momento requerido. Tengo que ofrecer un profundo agradecimiento a todos los que participaron en las expediciones a Iquitos y Fitzcarrald y que hicieron posible que los magníficos fósiles de cocodrilos tema de esta tesis
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