Applications are invited from suitably qualified South African students for two M.Sc research projects funded by the National Research Foundation, and hosted jointly by the Departments of Zoology and Cell & Molecular Biology, at the University of Cape Town. Each project will be supported by a NRF bursary of R14000 p.a. (for a maximum of 2 years), plus field and laboratory running costs. Top-up bursary funds may be made available on a merit basis. Only candidates with a valid RSA driver's licence will be considered. Previous experience in either fieldwork on small mammals, or laboratory-based genetics methodologies, will be advantageous.

Conservation genetics, population variation and differentiation of the endangered Giant golden mole (Chrysospalax trevelyani).

The Giant golden mole is restricted to Afromontane forests of Eastern Cape, from the Amathole Mountains north-eastwards through Transkei to Port St. Johns. Owing to fragmentation of these forests, habitat degradation as a result of harvesting firewood and ring-barking of trees, and hunting by feral dogs, many populations appear to have been severely impacted, and this species may be extinct in many parts of its former range. There have not, however, been any recent surveys of this species, or any objective assessment of the viability of remaining populations.

Literature on the ecology of this species is mostly anecdotal, and little is known of breeding in this species except that litter sizes are small and that post-natal care is extended, suggesting a K-selected reproductive strategy. There is, therefore, a clear need for more information on the ecology, reproductive biology and biogeography of remaining demes to assess their ecological and genetic viability and facilitate the effective management of this endangered species.

This project forms part of a broader research programme on the conservation biology of giant golden moles, and will involve extensive fieldwork to survey all localities where C. trevelyani has been previously collected, as well as selected intermediate indigenous forest patches. Depending on the research qualifications and experience of the candidate, the project may be tailored to have either an ecological or genetics emphasis. The ecological component will entail monitoring one population, located in a protected area (to minimize extraneous disturbance factors), to determine generation times, age and sex structure, and reproductive parameters such as breeding periodicity, gestation period, litter sizes and the length of post-natal development. Alternatively, the genetic component will focus on molecular analyses of samples (toe-clippings) obtained by non-destructive means to investigate population structuring and effective population sizes using microsatellite loci. Microsatellite loci in giant golden moles will have to isolated because there are no primers available. Thus, the first step in this programme will be the construction of such a library, requiring a candidate with a strong biochemical background.

The genetic, distributional and\or demographic data suites will then be integrated to determine effective population sizes and results will form the basis of recommendations for the effective and applied conservation and management of existing populations.
The successful incumbent will be assisted (on a part-time basis) in the field by a postgraduate student from the Department of Zoology at University of Fort Hare. The potential for upgrading of the M.Sc study to a Ph.D. also exists, and will be considered contingent upon suitable progress during the first year of study.

Phylogeography and systematics of the golden mole genus Chrysochloris in South Africa.

The genus Chrysochloris includes 2 species endemic to South Africa, namely the the Cape golden mole (C. asiatica), widespread in the Fynbos and Nama-Karoo biomes, and Visagie s golden mole (C. visagiei), a Critically-Endangered species known from only Calvinia in Succulant Karoo of Northern Cape. The systematic and conservation status of these taxa remain abstruse owing to a lack of information on geographic variation in morphological and genetic characteristics.

The range of C. asiatica coincides with the Cape fold mountains, which may act as barriers to dispersal and gene flow, leading to high levels of differentiation among fragmented populations, and perhaps even the existence of cryptic species. Based on marked geographic variation in size and fur colour in C. asiatica, up to 8 subspecies have been proposed, but the most recent regional taxonomic revisions treated this species as monotypic on the grounds that clines may be involved. A proper understanding of the nature and extent of geographic variation in phenotypic and genetic characteristics, and patterns of gene flow between demes, are contingent upon detailed analyses of populations from throughout the range of the species.

This project will also clarify the systematic and conservation status of Visagie s golden mole (Chrysochloris visagiei), known from only a holotype collected near Calvinia, which some authors consider to be only an aberrant C. asiatica. Further research is clearly needed to establish if this taxon does indeed occur in the Calvinia district, and to clarify its systematic before its true conservation status will become clear.

This project will form part of a broader research programme that will employ morphometric analyses based on existing museum specimens, as well as extensive fieldwork to acquire samples (using non-destructive methods) for chromosome and genetic analyses. Inter-population differentiation will be examined using sequence data from the cytochrome-b mitochondrial DNA genome, after amplification using suitable primers. Phylogeographic analyses of chromosomal and genetic data, together with cladistic analysis of morphometric characters, will enhance our understanding of micro-evolutionary patterns among these taxa, and how these relate to theories on phylogenetic divergence and speciation in fossorial mammals, which are based largely on subterranean rodents. Given the wide scope of this research programme, this M.Sc study may be tailored to suit the research preferences of the successful candidate, with greater emphasis on either fieldwork and systematics, or laboratory-based genetics methodologies. The potential for upgrading of the M.Sc study to a Ph.D. also exists, and will be considered contingent upon suitable progress during the first year of study.

For further details, please contact either:

Dr Gary Bronner, Dept. of Zoology; Ph: 021-6503650; email: gbronner@botzoo.uct.ac.za OR

Dr Colleen O Ryan, Dept. of Cell & Molecular Biology; Ph: 021-6504257; colleen@science.uct.ac.za; at the University of Cape Town, P/Bag Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.