A climatic or tectonic control on early primate dispersal? A new approach to investigate species dispersal in deep time

Investigating the mechanisms that underpin large-scale species dispersal

Recent studies show that the distribution of many modern terrestrial species can be explained by several episodes of large-scale dispersal and that these episodes will become more numerous under climatic stress. However, their underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The EU-funded DISPERSAL project will investigate the origins and mechanisms of large-scale dispersal by using the ancient dispersal of Asian primates and other mammals to South America as a case study. Research will focus on resolving how these mammals dispersed across seaways and continents and on modelling the external forcing mechanisms that render large-scale dispersal non-random.