Guillermo Velo-Antón

Guillermo Velo-Antón is an evolutionary ecologist and researcher at the University of Vigo, Spain, affiliated with the Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Animal Biology, and the Evolutionary Ecology research group (RE6). He leads the ECOEVO Lab, conducting field and genomic studies on amphibians and reptiles across the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and island-mainland systems.

He earned his PhD from the University of Vigo in 2008 with a thesis titled "Systematics, evolution and conservation through molecular markers of model species in herpetology," supervised by Dr. Adolfo Cordero Rivera and Dr. Mario García París. His academic foundation focuses on molecular approaches to evolutionary questions in herpetofauna.

Dr. Velo-Antón's research integrates genetic, phenotypic, ecological, and landscape data across evolutionary and geographic scales to unravel mechanisms driving biodiversity patterns. His work emphasizes phylogeographic structuring, adaptive variation, and conservation implications for ectothermic vertebrates, particularly in Galicia's unique ecosystems like the Cíes Archipelago. He combines molecular markers with spatial analysis to address eco-evolutionary dynamics in fragmented habitats.

At the ECOEVO Lab (Campus Universitario A Xunqueira, Pontevedra), he directs research on reptile and amphibian evolutionary ecology, leveraging Galicia's natural laboratories for island-mainland comparisons. His work bridges theoretical evolutionary biology with practical conservation applications for Iberian herpetofauna.