Tag Archives: hybridization

Genetic Rescue – Fitness and genomic consequences

As a PhD student studying the effects of genetic diversity overall and immunogenetic diversity specifically on survival and reproductive success in an endangered primate in captive and wild populations, I thought a lot about the potential effects of inbreeding and … Continue reading

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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

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Shared patterns of genomic diversity across populations of distantly related taxa

Genomic diversity is shaped by the complex interplay between the effects of genetic drift and natural selection among populations. Several of these effects, especially those of linked selection at neutral sites, adaptive introgression, and barriers to migration (often called “genomic … Continue reading

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Hybridization and adaptive radiations

As an iconic system in evolutionary biology, I’ve always been interested in African cichlids and the origins of their diversity1. These cichlids represent an adaptive radiation; they’ve evolved rapidly from a single origin to exploit and speciate into open niches … Continue reading

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On (mis)interpreting STRUCTURE/ADMIXTURE results

STRUCTURE, ADMIXTURE and other similar software are among the most cited programs in modern population genomics. They are algorithms that estimate allele frequencies and admixture proportions under the premise that sampled genotypes are derived from one of “K” ancestral populations, … Continue reading

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The not so singular process of hybridization

What, if anything, are hybrids? Zach Gompert and Alex Buerkle ask this question in a special issue in Evolutionary Applications. Hybrids occur when unrelated individuals mate, but how distant do the taxa need to be to constitute a cross? The varied … Continue reading

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Genomes on the beach: The International Conference on Polyploidy, Hybridization, and Biodiversity

I’ve spent the last week in Rovinj, Croatia at the International Conference on Polyploidy, Hybridization, and Biodiversity. I’ve been thinking (and writing) a great deal about polyploidy recently, and this meeting was certainly the impetus for much, much more of … Continue reading

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Ice-Age Euro-trips

Recent works that attempt to get at human migrations inside Europe paint a complex portrait of migratory events, admixture with archaic hominids, and adaptive evolution to new geographies, and a changing global climate. Analyzing whole genomes of 51 ancient humans … Continue reading

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Genomics of Hybridization – Part II, Top three of 2015

Death Valley pupfishes (Cyprinodon) are among the most endangered vertebrates on earth, with small inbred populations, with heavy risks of extinction in extreme environments. Martin et al. (2016) in a recent publication quantify diversity and adaptability in a very small population … Continue reading

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Earthquakes and rapid evolution

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

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