Missions

Rodentia, the largest and most diverse order of mammals with over 2,500 species, occupies nearly all terrestrial ecosystems and exhibits extensive ecological and morphological diversification. Their highly mineralized dentition preserves phylogenetic and adaptive signals, providing a rich fossil record for evolutionary studies.
This project integrates fossil and extant data using morphological phylogenetics and advanced tip-dating methods, such as Bayesian approaches and fossilized birth–death models, to reconstruct robust phylogenies and estimate divergence times.
It also investigates macroevolutionary dynamics, including variation in speciation and extinction rates, the role of ecological and functional shifts, and the identification of potential key innovations. Focusing on selected cricetid rodents, the project aims to clarify diversification patterns, extinction dynamics, and paleodiversity while assessing the strengths and limitations of current methodological approaches.
This project offers a unique opportunity to apply cutting-edge methods to a diverse mammalian group, linking fossils and living species to explore evolutionary and ecological patterns. The postdoc will gain expertise in advanced macroevolutionary modeling, produce high-impact publications, and develop methodologies applicable to other clades with rich fossil records.

Activités

Construct total-evidence phylogenies of Arvicolinae and Sigmodontinae, integrating molecular data from extant taxa and morphological data from both extant and fossil taxa.
Apply advanced macroevolutionary methods (BAMM, PyRate, FBDD, BDNN, DeepDive) to quantify diversification rates, extinction patterns, and lineage-specific dynamics.
Assess congruence and robustness of phylogenetic reconstructions using Bayesian inference, parsimony, and tip-dating, and evaluate their impact on macroevolutionary conclusions.
Explore the influence of biogeographical shifts, paleoclimate, and ecological factors on diversification and extinction patterns.

Compétences

Candidates must have obtained their PhD in Evolutionary Biology, Paleontology or similar before commencing the postdoctoral position.
Candidates must have experience in phylogenetic reconstruction (Bayesian inference, parsimony, total-evidence approaches).
Candidates must have expertise in macroevolutionary modeling tools (BAMM, PyRate, FBDD, BDNN, DeepDive).
Strong programming and quantitative skills (e.g. R).
Experience integrating fossil and extant datasets is mandatory.

Contexte de travail

The project is funded by the ANR RoMa («Rodent Macroevolution in the context of Major Miocene Environmental Changes») and will be supervised by Raquel López-Antoñanzas (ISEM, Montpellier), a CNRS researcher specialized in rodent evolution, fossil analysis, and phylogenetic reconstruction. The postdoctoral researcher will benefit from close interactions with recognized experts in rodent paleontology, including P. Peláez-Campomanes and S. Renaud, as well as world leaders in phylogenetic methods such as F. Condamine (ISEM, Montpellier) and T. Simoes (Princeton University, New Jersey)
Additionally, the postdoc will have the opportunity to collaborate with the ANR Disparat project («Skull trait interactions and macroevolutionary dynamics of the adaptive radiation of rodents»), supervised by Lionel Hautier (ISEM, Montpellier). This project provides access to a pre-existing 3D database of rodent craniofacial and dental morphology and opens possibilities for functional morphological analyses related to dentition and skull evolution.
The postdoctoral position will be based at the ISEM, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, under the supervision of Raquel López-Antoñanzas, offering a stimulating interdisciplinary environment at the interface of paleontology, evolutionary biology, and computational phylogenetics, with direct guidance from a researcher whose work focuses on the evolution, diversification, and macroevolutionary patterns of rodents.