Beetle systematics, paleoentomology and phylogeography
Stylianos 'Stelios' Chatzimanolis, Ph.D.
Research interests:
Beetle systematics: I specialize on the beetle family Staphylinidae. Staphylinid beetles are one of the greatest successes of evolution. With more than 46,000 described species, they are found virtually everywhere and have a plethora of forms and evolutionary novelties. Currently, I am collaborating with colleagues from the Field Museum, the Copenhagen Museum of Natural History and the University of Kansas (NSF DEB-0741475) to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of the tribe Staphylinini using six genes and a morphological dataset. This is a group of more than 300 genera and 5300 species distributed worldwide. Even though staphylinid beetles are numerous, they have received relatively little attention and there are a plethora of research projects involving both systematic questions (description of new species, phylogenetic analyses and monographs) and broader evolutionary questions such as the evolution of coloration and the evolution of eye size.
Paleontomology: I am interested in describing fossil insects and investigating how these discoveries affect the phylogenetic relationships of extant taxa. Past projects include the description of a new genus of Dermaptera from the early Cretaceous, and the description of a new histerid beetle in Dominican amber. I plan to continue my paleoentomological studies with several new enigmatic genera of Staphylinidae in Burmese amber that will help us delineate the tribes and eventually understand the paleobiogeographic history of beetles.
Phylogeography: I am involved in the California Beetle Project and I am assisting in the comparative phylogeographic part of the project that involves several beetle species. I also plan to conduct phylogeographic studies of cave insects in Tennessee and surrounding states.
Sample grants:
2008-2009 National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration: Exploring the beetle biodiversity of the California Channel Islands. $19,043. [PI, with M. Caterino co-PI].
2007-2010 NSF DEB-0741475 Collaborative Research: Phylogenetic reclassification and generic revision of the rove beetle tribe Staphylinini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).
($235,258) [PI, M. S. Engel co-PI].
Sample papers:
Chatzimanolis, S., M. S. Engel, A. Newton and D. Grimaldi. 2010. New ant-like stone
beetles in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae). Cretaceous Research 31(1): 77–84.
Chatzimanolis, S. and M.S. Engel. (2010) Laasbium Scudder: A genus of Tertiary earwigs, not rove beetles, and the classification of Florissant fossil Dermaptera (Insecta). Annales Zoologici 60: 1. 101-108.
Chatzimanolis, S. and J. S. Ashe. 2009. A revision of the neotropical genus Ocyolinus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylinini). Zootaxa 2162: 1–23.
Engel, M. S. and S. Chatzimanolis. 2009. An oxyteline rove beetle in Dominican amber with possible African affinities (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae). Annals of the Carnegie Museum 77(4): 425–429.
Clarke, D. and S. Chatzimanolis. 2009. Antiquity and long-term morphological stasis in a group of rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae): Description of the oldest Octavius species, from Cretaceous Burmese amber and review of the 'Euaesthetine subgroup' fossil record. Cretaceous Research 30(6): 1426–1434.
Chatzimanolis, S, M. S. Engel, A. Newton and D. Grimaldi. 2010. New ant-like stone
beetles in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae). Cretaceous Research 31(1): 77–84.
Chatzimanolis, S and J. S. Ashe. 2009. A revision of the neotropical genus Ocyolinus
(Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylinini). Zootaxa 2162: 1–23.
Chatzimanolis, S. and M. S. Caterino. 2008. Phylogeography and conservation genetics
of California coastal terrestrial communities: A comparative study using three beetles. Insect Conservation and Diversity 1: 222–232.
Chatzimanolis, S. 2008. A revision of the neotropical beetle genus Isanopus
(Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylinini). Journal of Natural History 42(25-26): 1765–1792.
Chatzimanolis, S and M. S. Caterino. 2007. Toward a better understanding of the
'Transverse Range Break': lineage diversification in southern California. Evolution 61(9): 2127–2141.
