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Category Archives: evolution
dN(eutralist) > dS(electionist)? Part 1
In a new series of posts, I will now proffer neutralist and selectionist reviews of recent publications. I point readers to an excellent review of the debate by Masatoshi Nei (2005). Besides being a fun exercise in PoV’s, I hope … Continue reading
Posted in evolution, genomics, mutation, population genetics, theory
Tagged Evolution, genomics, population genetics
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Bigger on the inside
The Molecular Ecologist receives a small commission for purchases made on Bookshop.org via links from this post. Evolutionary biology is, fundamentally, the study of how populations of living things change over time. Different creatures live different lives, and at any given point in … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, book review, evolution, genomics
Tagged Andreas Wagner, genotype networks
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Coral conservation through assisted evolution
Coral reefs occupy a tiny portion of the world’s oceans (see map below) but their biodiversity is hugely disproportionate to their size. More than 450 million people from 109 countries live in close proximity to coral reefs and depend upon the … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, conservation, evolution, methods
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Show me the power
Describing the patterns of genetic structure and mating system variation in presents challenges from the outset of sample collection to data analysis (see this post and this post). At the beginning of February, I had the pleasure to collaborate with Sean … Continue reading
Posted in conservation, evolution, genomics, interview, methods, population genetics, software, Uncategorized
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Interspecific gene flow enhances vectorial capacity
There are charismatic cases of gene flow between species, such as Neanderthals (see also Arun’s posts here and here), but the role of introgression in evolution remains poorly documented. Recently diverged species have incomplete reproductive isolation and can hybridize. Rapid … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, bioinformatics, evolution, genomics, phylogenetics, Uncategorized
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Twice Mixed? Testing hypotheses of Neanderthal Introgression
Human migration in, and out of Africa was wrought with complex patterns of admixture (see my previous post summarizing the story so far). Of note were some recent findings on the disparity in amounts of Neanderthal introgression/ancestry between East Asians … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, bioinformatics, evolution, genomics, mutation, Paleogenomics, population genetics
Tagged Homo sapiens, population genetics
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Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
Many animals use visual signals to scope out potential mates. In a new paper in Molecular Ecology, Sandkam et al. (2015) demonstrate that the variation underlying preference in female guppies could be explained by simple changes in expression and coding of … Continue reading
Genome-wide effects of artificial selection
Humans have been artificially selecting for favorable traits in crops, pets, and livestock over millennia. Years of theoretical predictions and experimental evolution studies have shown the detrimental effects of increased homozygosity, and the population-wide advantages of artificially maintaining heterozygosity. Two … Continue reading
Posted in bioinformatics, evolution, genomics, methods, mutation, population genetics, theory
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How do you unite the stage and actors of the evolutionary play?
When you are forced to give your one sentence, off-the-cuff response to “what kind of scientist are you?”, who do you become? A landscape geneticist? Community geneticist? Landscape epidemiologist? A new opinion in Trends in Ecology and Evolution by Brian … Continue reading
Posted in community ecology, evolution, genomics, population genetics
Tagged landscape genetics, opinion
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