Category Archives: population genetics

Genomics of Hybridization – Part 1

Posted on 21 Jan, 2016 by Arun Sethuraman

In a series of articles, I will discuss recent advances in hybridization genomics – the fundamentals of adaptive introgression, “islands of speciation”, differential gene flow, and linked selection have been discussed in my previous posts (here, here, and also at … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, evolution, genomics, methods, natural history, next generation sequencing, pedigree, phylogenetics, plants, population genetics, RNAseq, software, speciation, species delimitation, STRUCTURE, theory, transcriptomics | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Earthquakes and rapid evolution

Posted on 7 Jan, 2016 by Arun Sethuraman

The 1964 Alaskan earthquake was landscape-altering in creating/uplifting numerous islands in the Gulf of Alaska, providing an ideal system to study adaptive evolution of diversification in affected species – the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) being a widely studied example. In … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, evolution, genomics, natural history, next generation sequencing, phylogeography, population genetics, selection, STRUCTURE | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lonesome George, no longer?

Posted on 18 Dec, 2015 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Galapagos tortoises summon up images of great, lumbering beasts on idyllic islands that planted the seeds of natural selection in the young naturalist, Charles Darwin. In a recent paper, Poulakakis et al. (2015) provide genetic evidence of two lineages of tortoises … Continue reading →

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Gracilaria , currywurst and aebleskivers

Posted on 14 Dec, 2015 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Another travelogue for a Monday afternoon! Our first official European stop on the Gracilaria vermiculophylla tour was in Germany and Denmark hosted by a colleague without whom we wouldn’t have been able to embark on this adventure! I first met Florian Weinberger … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, conservation, evolution, haploid-diploid, natural history, population genetics | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The biggest problem in landscape genetics and how to fix it

Posted on 11 Dec, 2015 by Rob Denton

Landscape genetics is a field that has expanded rapidly in recent years, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t gone without criticism. Perhaps the largest problem with landscape genetics (LG) studies is one of timing. If you observe genetic differentiation … Continue reading →

Posted in methods, Molecular Ecology, the journal, population genetics | Tagged , | 2 Comments

An Oedipus complex in mosses?

Posted on 11 Dec, 2015 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Nannandrous … phyllodioicous … gotta love botanical terms and these will most definitely find their way into this week’s list of favorite words! Both refer to the tiny epiphytic nature of males situated on much larger female shoots. There may be many … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, evolution, genomics, haploid-diploid, plants, population genetics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Long distance dispersal of modern humans outside of Africa

Posted on 10 Dec, 2015 by Arun Sethuraman

Long distance dispersal (LDD) has long known to be an artifact of human migrations out of Africa. However, the effects of LDD on modern human diversity, and models of LDD in human colonization are yet to be characterized. Using an … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, genomics, natural history, population genetics | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Best laid plans of algae and academics oft go astray

Posted on 4 Dec, 2015 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

When you’re stuck in R and feel some procrastination is in order … write another travelogue post! I’ve wanted to spin some yarns about field mishaps. There’s no way we could sample over 45 sites without something going wrong. For our Northeast … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, community, evolution, haploid-diploid, population genetics | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Isolation by Aesop's Fable in NYC mice

Posted on 2 Dec, 2015 by Rob Denton

The story goes like this: Town Mouse goes to visit his friend in the country. Town Mouse looks down his long nose at the food offered by Country Mouse, so he brings Country Mouse back to the city for a … Continue reading →

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Anti-predatory adaptations in sticklebacks and butterflies

Posted on 23 Nov, 2015 by Arun Sethuraman

Two recent studies analyze character shifts in response to different selection regimes – (1) Mullerian mimicry wing patterns in Heliconius butterflies, and (2) anti-intraguild-predator adaptations in armor and shape of threespine sticklebacks. Hoyal Cuthill and Charleston 2015 Wing patterning genes … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, Coevolution, evolution, genomics, natural history, phylogenetics, phylogeography, population genetics, selection, speciation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment