Category Archives: birds

Sparrows and spiders and aggression, oh my!

Posted on 11 Sep, 2020 by Kathleen Grogan

One of the major goals of evolutionary biology is to link phenotypic variation with specific genetic variation, yet for behavioral phenotypes in non-model species, this task remains daunting and generally elusive. Although behaviors are heritable and clearly acted upon by … Continue reading →

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A genomic march of the penguins

Posted on 4 Sep, 2020 by Kelle Freel

It’s undeniable that penguins are a marine representative of the charismatic megafauna group. I have an affinity for stuff we need microscopes to see, BUT I agree that penguins are cute (just LOOK at these National Geographic photos…they’re even in … Continue reading →

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Does it pay to be parasitized?

Posted on 1 May, 2020 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Raven Edwards wrote this post as a project for Dr. Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Evolution course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a Master’s student in Dr. James McClintock’s lab where she is studying the growth of variegated sea urchins. Raven completed … Continue reading →

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“Of all the Islands in all the Seas in all the World…”

Posted on 27 Mar, 2020 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Ashley Jones wrote this post as a part of Dr. Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Scientific Communication course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She earned a B.S. in Animal Science from Auburn University where she also spent several years working at … Continue reading →

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Co-opting responses for old enemies

Posted on 24 Mar, 2020 by Kathleen Grogan

On Friday, Shelby Gantt introduced us to an unusual type of parasite, the brood parasite! As Shelby eloquently described, brood parasitism is when an individual’s offspring are raised by someone else who incurs a cost to raising these offspring. The … Continue reading →

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How many samples do you need to investigate relationships between genetic make-up & immune function?

Posted on 24 Feb, 2020 by Kathleen Grogan

When an organism is exposed to a pathogen, what determines their ability to resist or recover from infection? Mounting an effective immune response is a complex dance with multiple partners, changing tempos, and maybe even a costume change or two: … Continue reading →

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The crows have eyes — but not only for members of their own species

Posted on 20 Feb, 2020 by Jeremy Yoder

If you are a moderately bird-interested person who’s spent much time in Seattle or Vancouver, you’ve probably had a version of the following conversation with a less bird-interested friend or family member from out of town, after one of you … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, phylogeography, species delimitation | Tagged | 1 Comment

In the aftermath of fire, bluebird species boundaries may blur

Posted on 5 Sep, 2017 by Jeremy Yoder

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 →

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Shared patterns of genomic diversity across populations of distantly related taxa

Posted on 5 Jun, 2017 by Arun Sethuraman

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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The seeds of speciation

Posted on 1 Feb, 2017 by Jeremy Yoder

You don’t have to get very far into an evolution textbook before you bump into Darwin’s finches, the birds descended from South American finches that colonized the Galapagos Islands and “radiated” into an array of different species, each with a … Continue reading →

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