B.S. University of Michigan
M.S. University of Chicago
Ph.D. University of Chicago

Research Interests:

Historical and island bigeography; evolutionary radiations of mammals; evolutionary rates.

Current Research:

I'm working on the morphological and molecular evolution of a family of mammals largely endemic to the island of Madagascar. Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, hosts a diverse fauna of terrestrial vertebrate species, 75% of which are endemic to the island. Among these are the familiar lemurs as well as some less familiar groups of carnivores, rodents, and insectivores. Tenrecs are insectivores (order Lipotyphla) that have radiated on Madagascar and include species resembling hedgehogs, shrews, moles, and muskrats, even though they not closely related to any of these taxa. Of the 30 known species of tenrecs, 27 are found only on Madagascar. Three otter-like species are found in the tropical regions of equatorial Africa and bear little resemblence to their Malagasy brethren. Whether the African and Madagascar species are indeed closely related has never been rigorously tested. Furthermore, the pattern of diversification of tenrecs on Madagascar is unknown. Madagascar has been isolated from other continental landmasses since before the evolution of modern groups of placental mammals, therefore it is presumed that tenrecs (as well as lemurs, rodents, and carnivores) had to disperse to Madagascar across oceanic barriers. Some have suggested that the tenrecs now found on Madagascar are descendants of more than one colonizing lineage, i.e. tenrecs may have somehow reached the island on two or more occasions. I'm interested in testing these and other hypotheses of tenrec evolution by utilizing traditional morphological data as well as DNA sequence from both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. To date, each of these three data sets, whether analyzed separately or together, support the hypothesis that all extant Malagasy tenrecs have descended from a single colonizing ancestor and thus represent a true "adaptive" radiation. Knowledge of evolutionary relationships within this uniquely diverse family can also be helpful in understanding how both molecular and morphological features evolve.
This project, like most of the others being undertaken here, combines traditional specimen-based research (e.g. comparative morphology, patterns of endemism) with recently developed molecular techniques that utilize both fresh and ancient material in an attempt to interpret evolutionary patterns and processes.

Publications:

Olson, L.E. and A. D. Yoder.  (2002). Using secondary structure to identify ribosomal numts:    cautionary examples from the human genome.  Molecular Biology and Evolution 19(1): 93-100.

Olson, L. E. (1997a). Mammals of the Great Lakes Region [review]. Journal of Mammalogy 78(2), 696-698.

Olson, L. E. (1997b). Tenrecs---an example of evolution in isolation. In the Field 68(3), 1.

Brandt, J.H., M. Diolo, A. Hassanin, R.A. Melville, L.E. Olson, A. Seveau, and R.M. Timm.  2000.  Debate on the authenticity of Pseudonovibos spiralis as a new species of wild bovid from Vietnam and Cambodia.  Journal of Zoology 254(4): 437-444.

Goodman, S. M., Andrianarimisa, A., Olson, L. E. & Soarimalala, V. (1996). Patterns of elevational distribution of birds and small mammals in the humid forests of the Montagne d'Ambre, Madagascar. 2(2), 87-98.

Goodman, S. M., Rakotondravony, D., Olson, L., Razafimahatratra, E. & Soarimalala, V. (1998). Les insectivores et les rongeurs. In Inventaire biologique Foret d'Andranomay, Anjozorobe. Recherches pour le Development, Sérei Sciences biologiques, No. 13 (Goodman, S. M., ed.), pp. 80-93. Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique, Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Goodman, S. M., Ganzhorn, J. U., Olson, L. E., Pidgeon, M. & Soarimalala, V. (In press). Annual variation in species diversity and relative density of rodents and insectivores in the Parc National de la Montagne d'Ambre, Madagascar. Ecotropica.

Current Position:

www.uaf.edu/museum/mammal/Link_Olson/