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Category Archives: evolution
Is the neutral theory dead?
You might have noticed how the world of genetics was shaking as the giants of theoretical population genetics started discussing some of the most fundamental questions in the arena of Twittersphere. This happened after the publication of Andrew Kern and Matthew … Continue reading
Posted in evolution, mutation, population genetics, selection, theory
Tagged neutral theory, selection
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Found in translation: The evolutionary history of RNA viruses in vertebrates
I have to admit, viruses aren’t normally my thing, but this is pretty darn cool. In a study out by Shi and colleagues this week, researchers identified 214 new viruses that, as the authors so succinctly state, reveal “diverse virus-host … Continue reading
Posted in bioinformatics, Coevolution, evolution, transcriptomics
Tagged Evolution, host evolution, RNA viruses
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The secret life of invaders
So I have this pet theory. And damn if the evidence doesn’t seem to be piling up. Am I living in the bubble of my own google alerts? Possibly. I’m an evolutionary ecologist and invasion biologist, and (surprise!) my pet … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, evolution, hybridization, mating system, population genetics
Tagged Biological Invasion, heterosis, novel environment
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Oh my ploidy … diploids evolve more slowly than haploids?
It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I last sat at my keyboard in a TME capacity (#NewPI chat doesn’t really count)! One year ago today, to be exact (writing this on 28 March, for publication on 29 March). Thus, … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, blogging, evolution, genomics, haploid-diploid, selection, yeast
Tagged adaptation, diploid, haploid, life cycle, ploidy, selection, yeast
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Are population genomic scans for locally adapted loci too successful?
Last Friday, Molecular Ecology released an interesting new systematic review online ahead of print. Colin Ahrens and coauthors at a number of Australian research institutions compiled results from 66 papers reporting tests for locally adapted loci based on either FST … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, association genetics, evolution, genomics, population genetics, selection
Tagged local adaptation, systematic review
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Genomic signatures of ancient rendezvous and separation in elephant evolution
Evidence from various levels of the tree of life is showing that we’ve been picturing ancient encounters between related species all wrong and admixture events are probably more common than expected. Even rendezvous among primates, caniforms, and majestic proboscideans often … Continue reading
Posted in conservation, evolution, genomics, hybridization, natural history, Paleogenomics, phylogeography
Tagged admixture, ancient DNA, conservation, elephants, Evolution, gene flow, hybridization
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What’s in a name? A review of cryptic species and species concepts
It is a contentious can of worms. Species concepts are both essential to understand and at the same time incredibly difficult to define. Species names allow us to discuss fundamental units of biodiversity in any ecosystem and study genome evolution, … Continue reading
Posted in evolution, Molecular Ecology, the journal, speciation, species delimitation
Tagged amphipods, biodiversity, cryptic species
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