Abstract
Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been written if it were not for the curiosity of my supervisor Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra. Thankfully, he got bored (just a little) with terrestrial vertebrates and became curious about aquatic species diversity. I was lucky enough that he hired me to do the job. I thank Marcelo for his intellectual guidance and financial support as well as his efforts to advance women in science. I want to thank Sandra Schwarte for teaching me how to work thoroughly, thoughtful, and conceptual. I am so glad for having been your student assistant and your friend. You made me the scientist I am today. I thank Michael Lenhard for being the most inspiring and passionate professor I have met during my undergraduate and graduate studies. Thank you for actually caring for your students. I thank Stefanie Hartmann and Detlef Groth for realizing how important R will be for any biologist and for teaching it so well and patiently to us ignorant.I thank all the heads and members of the different working groups I had the honor to be a temporary part of, for the inspiring discussions, support, and fun obviously: the group of Ralph Tiedemann (Uni Potsdam), Michael Lehnhard (Uni Potsdam), Walter Salzburger (Uni Basel), and Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra (UZH).
I want to thank Walter for allowing me to do my Master thesis at his lab. It started a series of events for which I am very grateful today. Huge thanks go to my many co-authors and collaborators from Switzerland, Panama, and Venezuela, in particular Jorge Domingo Carrillo Briceño (UZH), Richard G. Cooke from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and Cathy Villalba and Gloria Sánchez from Venezuela. Fieldwork requires the help of many and I want to state that I would be nowhere close the achieved sample size without the support of the many helpers. Finally, I thank my family and friends for their support during this very long educational process: Stefan, Alex,
Laura, and Astrid, you are the best!
Stange, Madlen