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Category Archives: evolution
Dishing out Art: “Soiling” our microbiology curriculum
Sarah Adkins wrote this post as a final project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Science Communication course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a MS student working with Dr. Jeffrey Morris at UAB. They are looking at how microbes (i.e., phytoplankton and E. … Continue reading
Posted in blogging, Coevolution, evolution, methods, microbiology, natural history, selection
Tagged Blogging, microbiology, PetriDishArt, Science and Art, Science Communication, teaching
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Have we got the power?
Sabrina Heiser wrote this post as a final project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Science Communication course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sabrina grew up in Germany, completed a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology at Plymouth University (UK) and then lived … Continue reading
An Update on the Great BAMM Controversy
Update, 01 August 2016, 2:50PM. This post has been updated to include information contained in the supplemental material of Rabosky et al. 2017, and clarify the difference between branch-specific and tree-wide rate variation. Back in August, I summarized the main … Continue reading
Posted in blogging, evolution, methods, phylogenetics, science publishing, software, speciation
Tagged BAMM, diversification, extinction, macroevolution
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How much wood would a termite chuck…if it was missing its microbial symbionts
Termites get a pretty bad rap, probably because we think of our houses disintegrating when they move in. Ironically, we have a lot to learn from these critters, and their mounds have served as an inspiration for modern architecture. Either … Continue reading
Posted in Coevolution, evolution, genomics, microbiology
Tagged Desulfovibrio, protist, symbiosis, termites, whole genome amplification
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What's left of the black rhino's genetic diversity?
With the current poaching epidemic we might lose rhinos before we even have time to get to know them. Luckily, the day has come and thanks to Yoshan Moodley, Mike Bruford and their team we know have a pretty good … Continue reading
Posted in conservation, evolution, Paleogenomics, phylogeography, population genetics
Tagged black rhino, conservation, extinction
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Music to an amniote's ears, an "accordion" model of genome size evolution
How did we get where we are? Genetically speaking, that is. A few posts ago, that whole genotype-phenotype question was discussed, how do genomes make plants and animals (and don’t forget the microbes!) look and act how they do. Another … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, bioinformatics, evolution, genomics
Tagged adaptation, amniote evolution, natural selection, transposable elements
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That's an H. erato of a different color!
What drives different coloration among birds, insects, flowers? One of the major goals in evolutionary studies is understanding what is going on in DNA that makes organisms different. A fancy way to say this is studying how an organism’s genotype … Continue reading
Posted in evolution, genomics, phylogeography
Tagged butterfly, Heliconius erato, phenotype genotype
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The seeds of speciation
You don’t have to get very far into an evolution textbook before you bump into Darwin’s finches, the birds descended from South American finches that colonized the Galapagos Islands and “radiated” into an array of different species, each with a … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, birds, Coevolution, evolution, genomics, population genetics, speciation
Tagged crossbill, lodgepole pine
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Artificial connectivity … have we overlooked the native range?
Invasive species are problematic throughout the world’s ecosystems, down even to their very name which incites heated debates. Every month, studies are published that describe the genetic structure and gene flow of non-native species in their introduced ranges. Often, these … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, conservation, evolution, natural history, phylogeography, population genetics
Tagged Biological Invasion, Ciona, Evolution, invasive species, marine, Sessile
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Humans, selection, evolution and ecological timescales … a potent cocktail
It’s been awhile since I last was able to write for TME. But, finally, I’ve stolen away some time to write about a recent study in Ecology Letters that I couldn’t put down once I started reading it. Yes, it’s about mating … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, evolution, natural history, plants, population genetics, selection, theory
Tagged Evolution, mating system, pesticide, selection
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