The University of Oslo is closed. The PhD defence will therefore be fully digital and streamed directly using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the audience to ask ex auditorio questions either written or oral. This can be requested by clicking 'Participants -> Raise hand'.
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Trial lecture: Fungi in the evolutionary history of flies (Diptera).
Main research findings
This thesis focuses on the fungus gnat genus Allodia in the family dipteran Mycetophilidae. Allodia has historically gone through several systematic changes, with additions and exclusions of taxa, and the diversity and distribution is poorly understood. Therefore, diversity, distribution, taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus, with its two subgenera Allodia s. str. and Brachycampta, is investigated using morphological and molecular data. Based on molecular analyses of data retrieved from high throughput sequencing, Brachycampta is re-established as a valid genus. Further, the 20 Allodia species occurring in the Holarctic region is revised and reviewed, also using DNA sequence data for the first time. Allodia specimens collected in the Himalayan region (Nepal and Bhutan), and in mountainous areas in south and east Africa is studied, revealing previously unknown diversity. Altogether, a total of 21 species described as new to science in the four papers included in the thesis.
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Contact: Elisabeth Aronsen
Organizer: Natural History Museum