Author Archives: Bryan McLean

The largest mammalian genome is not polyploid

Some 40 million years ago in South America, following the arrival of the common ancestor of caviomorph rodents from the Old World, big changes were afoot. Specifically, the caviomorph colonists were beginning to give rise to an extant evolutionary progeny … Continue reading

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Highlights from the Standalone Society of Systematic Biologists meeting – part 2

The 2017 standalone meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists included expert-led debates on major issues in molecular systematics. Didn’t make it to Baton Rouge? Don’t worry – Melissa DeBiasse and I report on some of the main points (and our favorite lightening … Continue reading

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The Hidden History of Kiwi Diversification

Of the millions of Earth’s species that likely remain to be described, a majority is thought to be invertebrates, plants, fungi, or microbes. Nevertheless, the pace of species description in some vertebrate groups has not slackened over the past few … Continue reading

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A Comparative View of Comparative Phylogeography

A recent issue of PNAS includes papers from a Sackler Colloquium on comparative phylogeography. As stated by the organizers, a major purpose of that gathering “was to bring together leading scientists to address the current state of phylogeography as the … Continue reading

Posted in Coevolution, community, comparative phylogeography, phylogeography, population genetics | 1 Comment

The Genomics of Rapid Adaptation

Phenology (the timing of life cycle events such as growth, breeding, or migration) is among the most sensitive organismal traits to climate and environmental change. In recent years, phenological shifts have been documented in numerous taxa, in traits such as … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, genomics, Molecular Ecology, the journal, plants, population genetics, selection | Leave a comment

How do Missing Data Impact Phylogenetic Inference with UCEs?

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has put gobs of sequence data in the hands of molecular biologists, and that data is measurably advancing our prospects for a fully resolved Tree of Life. Nearly simultaneously, however, we have realized that every NGS dataset … Continue reading

Posted in next generation sequencing, phylogenetics | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Greetings from Austin, with a look towards Evolution 2016.

As the yearly conference season approaches full swing, the minds of many evolution-oriented scientists turn, naturally, to Evolution. The Evolution conference is the annual conclave of three of the discipline’s foremost societies (American Society of Naturalists, Society for the Study … Continue reading

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On Integrative Species Delimitation…

Accurate delimitation of species is a fundamental first step that underlies much of what we do in biology. But this can prove challenging in many situations. Why? Let me count the ways. Incomplete lineage sorting, hybridization, morphological conservatism, and niche … Continue reading

Posted in evolution, methods, phylogeography, population genetics, software, species delimitation | 1 Comment

Island-Hopping with an E.I.D.

If you live in the U.S. and feel like Zika virus is getting closer to home, that’s because it is. Although there are no known cases of Zika transmission by natural vectors in the lower 48, experts have stressed that … Continue reading

Posted in evolution, genomics, medicine, phylogenetics, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Evolution of Molecular Dating

Molecular dating is a key tool in deciphering the history of life. In a recent Molecular Biology and Evolution paper, Sudhir Kumar and Blair Hedges have reviewed the state of the subject, summarizing the philosophical and methodological history of this … Continue reading

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