The lineage of the lab.
A community of evolutionary biologists — from undergraduates to postdocs — bound by curiosity about how the diversity of life came to be.
Dr. Praveen Karanth
Professor · Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc
A phylogenetic biologist, Praveen studies genetic variation within species (population genetics, phylogeography) and among species (phylogenetics) to address questions in ecology, evolution, behaviour and conservation — across langurs, geckos, butterflies, tarantulas and centipedes.
His work has helped reshape our understanding of how the Indian subcontinent's geological and climatic history sculpted its fauna and flora. He has been at CES since 2005 and a Professor since 2018, and teaches Evolutionary Biology and Advanced Methods in Molecular Phylogenetics.
Graduate students
06 membersAritra Biswas
PhD student
Systematics, evolution and biogeography of endemic Indian fauna, with a focus on mygalomorph spiders.
Ashika Dhimal
PhD student
Hybridization between golden langurs and capped langurs in Bhutan.
Aarthi R
PhD student
Phylogeny, biogeography and population genetics of blindsnakes.
Madhura Agashe
PhD student
Biogeographic history and diversification of Hemidactylus geckos.
Radhika Dutt
PhD student
Phytogeography of the tropical pioneer genera Macaranga and Mallotus.
Navaneel Sarangi
PhD student
Biogeography and subterranean evolution of cave-dwelling species across India.
Master's & undergraduate students
02 membersSrikant Rajan
Master's student
Evolution of cave-dwelling organisms in the unique cave systems of Meghalaya.
Jeet Vora
Undergraduate student
Trait-dependent dispersal and trait evolution in gekkonid lizards.
Interns
02 membersSarbajit Pathak
Undergraduate intern
Phylogeny and biogeography of Poecilotheria tarantulas; runs the Spooder Project documenting spiders.
Rudra Pratap Swain
Integrated MSc intern
Hybridisation, parthenogenesis and triploidy in Indotyphlops braminus, using karyotyping and flow cytometry.
Research fellows
01 memberAbhinya P
Research fellow
DNA metabarcoding to understand the diet of harriers.
Visiting researchers
01 memberAswathy S
Visiting scholar
Systematics, phylogenetics and ecology of mygalomorph spiders in the southern Western Ghats.
Alumni
Former members of the lab- Azhar Rashid Lone Molecular phylogenetics and population genetics of Indian earthworms
- Shabuddin Shaik Diversity of subterranean crustaceans
- Raja Kullayi Swamy Taxonomy and phylogeny of Phyllanthus in India
- Aniruddha Datta Roy Systematics of endemic Western Ghats skinks
- Jyotsana Dixit Malaria vectors and primate Plasmodium parasites
- Deepak Veerappan Phylogeography and systematics of Sitana fan-throated lizards
- Siddharthan Surveswaran Molecular phylogenetics of Ceropegia and relatives
- K. A. Subramaniyan Diversification of Western Ghats odonates
- N. P. I. Das Evolution and diversification of Indian tarantulas
- Ananya Jana Population structure of the endemic blackbuck
- Chinta Sidharthan Biogeography of Indian blindsnakes
- Maitreya Sil Historical biogeography of freshwater snails (Pila)
- Mihir Sule Phylogeny and population structure of humpback dolphins (Sousa)
- Aparna Lajmi Diversification in Hemidactylus geckos
- Ishan Agarwal Biogeography and systematics of Geckoella geckos
- Sandhya Sheker Now — Science journalism (MA), UK
- Rohini Bansal Phylogeny and biogeography of Hemidactylus geckos
- Jahnavi Joshi Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of centipedes
- Bhuvana Prakash Comparative phylogeography of peninsular Hemidactylus geckos
- Sharwary M R Demography and genetic structure of Himalayan langurs
- Aranya Dhibar Molecular evolution of the Indian flying lizard (Draco dussumieri)
- Aditya Pradhan Genetics of coat colour in golden and capped langurs
- Ekadh Ranganathan Discordance and substitution saturation in tetrapod phylogenies
- Kunal Arekar Taxonomy of Himalayan langurs
- Anjali Verma Morphology and adaptation in Hemidactylus geckos
- Chetan Nag K.S. Species boundaries in Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus)
- Ashalakshmi C.N. Species delimitation in Hanuman langurs
- Rekha Warrier Phylogeography of the centipede genus Rhysida
- Kartik V. Rao DNA barcoding of satyrine butterflies
- Manjunatha Reddy DNA barcoding of peninsular satyrine butterflies
- Bhavani S. Lab accounting and administration
There's room on the tree for you.