BIOSKETCH AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Havana (Cuba) in 2005. Following this, I worked as a predoctoral researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Systematics (Havana), and in 2016 obtained my PhD from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In early 2018, I joined the Stano Pekár lab at Masaryk University as a postdoctoral researcher. I am interested in multiple aspects of evolutionary biology, from how evolutionary processes have shaped the morphology, behavior, ecology, and distribution of organisms, to understanding how these processes can be unraveled using molecular information. My research focuses on spiders that have low dispersal capabilities, organisms that are well suited but have been poorly employed in evolutionary studies. Although so far my investigation has dealt with tarantulas, I am currently conducting an exciting project with Zodarion spiders (family Zodariidae). These are small spiders that have strongly diversified from the Mediterranean region through to Western Asia and have uniquely specialized to mimic and feed on ants.