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Category Archives: natural history
Are we restoring coral reefs for today or for tomorrow?
Elise Keister wrote this post as a final project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Science Communication course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Elise studies the impact of climate change on coral as a PhD student in Dr. Dustin Kemp’s lab. Elise … Continue reading
Just So Stories addendum: How the stickleback keeps getting its stickles
Model organisms have been essential tools for genetics research since the field was formed. Kelle Freel discussed the characteristics that make for a good model organism in a previous TME post. Briefly, traits like short generation time, lots of offspring, … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, evolution, genomics, natural history, selection, stickleback
Tagged adaptation, gene flow, natural selection, selection, stickleback
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La vie en rouge … l'algue rouge
Best laid plans of a #NewPI … what happens to them? Well, they often get triaged for more urgent things that were triaged earlier for more urgent things that were also triaged even earlier for more urgent things … and … Continue reading
Walking, galloping, and sauntering towards genetic differentiation
“This validates, at a major scale (across all vertebrates), what a handful of studies have found within narrow taxonomic groups…” My citation manager has a special folder—elegantly named “TEACHING??”—where papers get stored for eventual use in a classroom. These papers tend to … Continue reading
Posted in comparative phylogeography, natural history, speciation
Tagged Fst, locomotion, species richness
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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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In the aftermath of fire, bluebird species boundaries may blur
One of the most clear-cut reasons that species evolve to fill different ecological niches is competition. Two otherwise similar species that use the same resources experience strong selection favoring the use of less-similar resources, if they have the option. The … Continue reading
Posted in birds, evolution, hybridization, natural history, population genetics
Tagged mountain bluebird, western bluebird
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#Evol2017 catch-up — Effects of range expansions on mating system
Two weeks (more about that in a post I’ve written for Wednesday!) after the closing day of the 2017 Evolution Meetings, the Molecular Ecologists have all dispersed from Portland, though some may have left things behind! Still, the conference was so … Continue reading
Posted in conferences, evolution, mating system, natural history, phylogeography, plants, selection
Tagged Baker's Law, drift, inbreeding depression, mating system, range expansion, selfing
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The Hype Cycle of Ancient DNA
Recently I saw a graph that I’ve learnt is called the Hype Cycle and is a methodology used in assessment of new technologies and their marketing. What strikes me about it is how well it fits my own research field, … Continue reading
Posted in evolution, natural history, Paleogenomics, phylogenetics, population genetics, theory
Tagged ancient DNA, history, hype cycle
3 Comments