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Functional Diversity in Colour Vision of Fish
(2012-05-14)
The overall objective of this thesis was to understand better the mechanisms that shape the diversity in colour vision of fish, and to explore the adaptive significance of this divergence. Among the vertebrates, teleost ...
The Genetic Architecture of Life History in Drosophila
(2014-05-07)
An organism’s entire life history - the timing of development, reproduction, senescence and death - can depend on the nature of selection for reproductive age. The outcome of selection will depend both on the particular ...
Genomic Consequences of Mating System Evolution in the Pacific Coastal Dune Endemic, Abronia Umbellata (Nyctaginaceae)
(2016-09-06)
The advent of next-generation sequencing has significantly reduced the cost of obtaining large-scale genetic resources, opening the door for genomic studies of non-model but ecologically interesting species. The shift in ...
Evidence for Speciation With Gene Flow: An Examination of the Evolutionary Genetics of Blue-Footed and Peruvian Boobies
(2011-04-07)
Successful preservation of Earth’s biodiversity requires an understanding of the processes that generate new species. The generation of species without gene exchange is considered predominant; however, a growing body of ...
The evolution of species' geographical range limits: an empirical test using two coastal dune plants, Camissonia cheiranthifolia (Onagraceae) and Abronia umbellata (Nyctaginaceae)
(2007-07-05)
Every species has a limit to its geographic distribution. The problem is that we don’t really know why. Classical explanations propose that range limits occur where the ecological conditions overwhelm adaptation and ...
Biogeography and Diversification of the Andean Seedsnipes (Thinocoridae): An Antarctic Avian Lineage?
(2011-08-18)
South America and the Andes harbour a rich biodiversity. High levels of in-situ speciation, survival of relict lineages into modern times, and mixing of biotas (Gondwanian and North American), have been demonstrated to ...
Evolutionary Ecology of Range Limits: Conceptual Syntheses and Empirical Tests
(2014-10-29)
Understanding the environmental, demographic, and evolutionary processes underlying species’ range limits (RLs) is a primary goal of ecology, and increasingly important for conservation in a world of changing species ...
Phenotypic Plasticity Drives Phenological Change in Mandt's Black Guillemot (Cepphus Grylle MandtII)
The ability of individuals to change breeding time is predicted to be an important aspect of adapting to climate change. Changes in breeding time could occur through either behavioural adjustment of breeding time or ...
Arboreal Calling Behaviour Across the Range of the Spring Peeper: Potential Consequences and Benefits
Understanding the trade-offs that affect potentially adaptive traits is fundamental to our understanding of evolutionary diversification and speciation. Heterogeneous landscapes may lead to spatial variation in such traits ...
Evolutionary Constraints: Phenology and elevational range limits in an annual plant
All species have limits to their geographic distributions and many range limits are stable over centuries, indicating a failure to adapt to conditions beyond the range edge. This simple observation contradicts copious ...