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I am interested in vertebrate evolution, coevolution, and systematics with emphasis on mammals. I use molecular methods (primarily DNA sequencing) to assess animal relationships. My current work focuses on Neotropical species of rodents, and one current project is designed to assess the coevolutionary history of rodents and their ectoparasitic lice. Opportunities are available for field work in Central and South America through the field program of the LSU Museum of Natural Science.
I also serve as Curator of Mammals in the Museum of Natural Science. Students have the opportunity to work with the collection of mammals (approximately 36,000 specimens) and learn modern museum curatorial practices. The museum also houses the collection of frozen tissues which is one of the largest and most extensive of its kind in the world. These tissues are analyzed in our molecular systematics laboratory, which is equipped for protein electrophoretic analyses, RFLP, DNA fingerprinting and comparative DNA sequencing.
Hafner, M. S., J. E. Light, D. J. Hafner, S. V. Brant, T. A. Spradling, and J. W. Demastes. 2005. Cryptic species in the Mexican pocket gopher, Cratogeomys merriami. Journal of Mammalogy, 86: 1095-1108.
Hafner, M. S., T. A. Spradling, J. E. Light, D. J. Hafner, and J. R. Demboski. 2004. Systematic revision of pocket gophers of the Cratogeomys gymnurus species group. Journal of Mammalogy, 85: 1170-1183.
Spradling, T. A., S. V. Brant, M. S. Hafner, and C. J. Dickerson. 2004. DNA data support a rapid radiation of pocket gopher genera (Rodentia: Geomyidae). Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 11:105-125.
Demastes, J. W., A. L. Butt, M. S. Hafner, and J. E. Light. 2003. Systematics of a rare species of pocket gopher, Pappogeomys alcorni. Journal of Mammalogy, 84:753-761.
Hafner, M. S., Demastes, J. W., T. A. Spradling, and D. L. Reed. 2002. Cophylogeny between pocket gophers and chewing lice. Pp. 195-220, In: "Tangled trees: phylogeny, cospeciation, and coevolution" (R. D. M. Page, ed.), University of Chicago Press. 350 pp.
Reed, D. L., and M. S. Hafner. 2002. Phylogenetic analysis of bacterial communities
associated with ectoparasitic chewing lice of pocket gophers: A culture-independent
approach. Microbial Ecology, 44:78-93.
Link to Museum of
Natural Science
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