Welcome to the SLaBB
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In a nutshell:
The Caribbean islands have a very complex geological history, which sets a remarkable stage to study biogeographic and evolutionary patterns in the animals and plants that inhabit this archipelago. Research in the SLaBB focuses on mammalian extinctions, phylogeography, and systematics, particularly using Caribbean bats as a model. Check out our science section to learn more about what we do.
The Caribbean islands have a very complex geological history, which sets a remarkable stage to study biogeographic and evolutionary patterns in the animals and plants that inhabit this archipelago. Research in the SLaBB focuses on mammalian extinctions, phylogeography, and systematics, particularly using Caribbean bats as a model. Check out our science section to learn more about what we do.
Our research happens at Rutgers University – Newark!
** If you are interested in bats, ecological niche modeling, paleontology, phylogeography, and systematics contact me at angelo.soto[at]rutgers.edu. Details here **
** If you are interested in bats, ecological niche modeling, paleontology, phylogeography, and systematics contact me at angelo.soto[at]rutgers.edu. Details here **
Latest news:
8 Jan 2019: Spring field season is here! Time to reward myself with some well deserved fieldwork in the Caribbean. More bats, birds, herbs & new fossil localities!
14 Nov 2018: Honored to have been invited by @DavalosLab to give a seminar at Stony Brook University. What an amazing crowd!
24 Oct 2018: Heading over to Puerto Vallarta for another year of NASBR to meet a pack of badass bat scientists
1 Sept 2018: Excited for a new teaching semester at Rutgers University!
22 May 2018: Delighted to give a talk on Caribbean bat phylogeography at the Brooklyn Bird Club!
14 May 2018: Headed to a meeting with officials of Autoridad de Medio Ambiente and Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática in Cuba to solidify a contract for doing research and document Cuban mammal biodiversity over the next five years.
22 April 2018: Will be spending the next couple of weeks with 30 other bat biologists studying the bat fauna of Belize. Chrotopterus auritus, here I go!
7 March 2018: All ready for my second trip to study bat biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Looking forward to seeing some cool bats!
1 February 2018: Excited to give a seminar on climate change and island biodiversity at Rutgers Camden!
11 December 2017: We had an excellent time on our expedition to Long Island, The Bahamas. A good number of new fossils of potentially new species extinct in the Holocene! Wait for it...
16 November 2017: Traveling to Brasil to catch bats, meet colleagues, and give a seminar at UFES. Will be shared via Facebook live!
17 October 2017: Heading over to Knoxville, Tennessee to attend the 47th North American Symposium on Bat Research (NASBR).
11 October 2017: Attending the Student Conference on Conservation Science in New York City (SCCS-NY) as a mentor and moderator of the Species and Habitat speed talk session.
1 September 2017: Assistant Professor at Rutgers – Newark as of 1 September 2017!
23 August 2017: The distribution of southeastern US coastal plain frogs was affected by historical climate change. Our paper in Journal of Biogeography shows discordant population patterns in four species of anurans.
17 August 2017: Limited dispersal in a known migratory bat (Tadarida brasiliensis). We have a publication in Ecology and Evolution.
2 July 2017: Organized and symposium on Caribbean Speciation for the IX International Convention on the Environment and Development and presented my research on cryptic speciation on Caribbean nectarivorous bats in the Academia de Ciencias de Cuba!
19 June 2017: We described a new species of bat in the genus Hsunycteris! Check out the details in American Museum Novitates.
2 June 2017: Reviewed the bat diversity of Haiti and found two "hidden" species not previously reported! 20 species of bat reported in our PLOS One article.
13 April 2017: Understanding the Late Holocene historical ecology in the southern Bahamas. In this paper we have everything: birds, herps, mammals, and plants mashed up with an archaeological perspective! Our publication out in Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology.
7 February 2017: Learn about extirpated Hutias, Crocodiles, and other vertebrates. Check out our new article lead by Steadman on the "Late Holocene Historical Ecology: The timing of vertebrate extirpation on Crooked Island, Bahamas" in the Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology.
17 January 2017: Check out our Shelf Life video "Into the island of bats" to learn more about our research with bats in Cuba.
3 December 2016: Amazing fun chatting about bats and island biodiversity with aspiring scientists and their parents at the Discovery Room at AMNH. Three time slots, all seats take and some even sat on the floor!
17 November 2016: Excited for my seminar on Changes in Caribbean Mammal Communities at the Department of Biology of Illinois State University.
14 November 2016: Our new AMNH exhibition ¡CUBA! just opened. Come visit!
8 September 2016: Ready to teach Environmental Biology at Columbia University in the City of New York.
21 March 2016: Honored to have been invited to present at American Museum of Natural History Richard Guilder Grad School' Seminar in Comparative Biology. I had an amazing time!
