Wherein we developed a new phylogenetic method to demonstrate well-supported linkages between diet, plumage, and breeding system, and further linked all of this to a bevy of research on taste receptors, fruit toxins, digestion, and genetics in manakins. Press release: www.mpg.de/26796412/evo...
One other interesting tidbit. Looking at the phylogeny, we see two pulses of diversification. One at high elevations, which led to the divergence of all the Tepuis and Andes species, and another in M. miniatus, which hasn't split because they are more connected at lower elevations.
Huge deal for bioinformatics.
If you're interested in these birds, check out Laura's other paper, ALSO just out in Evolution, using RADseq data to look closer at the hybridizing M. melanocephalus and M. ornatus. doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Ha! In my Science Advances paper we were asked to remove the word "novel" from a sentence where we talked about selection in novel environments! They just search for every instance of the word and ask you to remove it. Silly.
Finally, we also looked at a large region of divergence on the Z sex chromosome. It looks like there has been a lot of recombination suppression here. Whether it's an inversion or something else remains to be seen.
#NewPaperAlert! This one has a massive author list and has been a LONG time in coming, but is SO COOL! First, check out the first figure to get you interested! Manakins! Fruit! Sexual-selection in action (displays and Z:A chromosomal diversity)! Read on for the back story & link
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Kevin Bennett
Kevin Bennett
Kevin Bennett
Alice Boyle
The flagship paper from the amazing Manakin Research Coordination Network is finally published! The time I spent with these people was the most rewarding part of my PhD.
