ABSTRACT: Dung beetles are becoming widely recognized focal taxon for ecological studies and biodiversity monitoring around the globe. In tropical regions, Dung Beetles have been shown to be an ideal group for ecological explorations. South America, and Brazil in particular, number a couple dozens of Research Groups which use Dung beetles as a model for their studies. However, the Neotropics being the hotspot of Dung Beetles diversity, have been suffering from the nearly frozen state of systematics activity. The lack of reliable keys to species and genera largely limits resolution of those ecological studies, providing confident identification to only 50-60% of collected species. The aim of my and my lab work is to establish the center for revisionary and alpha-taxonomic investigation of Dung Beetles from the Neotropics. In the first part of my talk, I will explore how we organize and perform taxonomy of the mega-diverse Dung Beetles to efficiently meet the needs of ecological studies, and at the same time how those ecological studies due to their extensive collecting advance taxonomic exploration.
In the second part of the talk, I will focus on opportunities that Brazil offers to senior and junior scholars from abroad to conduct biodiversity research. The Brazilian government recognizes the importance of the biodiversity studies in Brazil and currently increases financial support in this branch of biology in order to attract new scientists and foster next generation of systematists. Due to these factors, Brazil is currently becoming a hotspot of taxonomic opportunities.