Secondary contact in lowland Panama
The main focus of my dissertation is speciation and reproductive isolation in lowland Panama. Despite the lack of strong geographic barriers, this region has multiple taxa that have strong mitochondrial discontinuities between east and west- making it an ideal laboratory to test how non-geographic factors influence the development of reproductive isolation. I am taking a comparative approach, and have two stages I am currently working on:
STAGE 1: Using UCEs to test whether divergence time predicts extent of differentiation and introgression
We sequenced ultraconserved elements (UCEs) in 8 species across lowland Panama, attempting to form as complete of a transect as possible. I am currently testing whether divergence times in these groups- ranging between approximately 1.5 and 3.5 mya- predict the results of secondary contact. Preliminary results were presented at the 2019 American Ornithology meeting.
Stage 2: Comparative Whole Genomes to test genomic patterns of divergence
As a next step, we have expanded our sampling to 25 taxa. These include a diverse set of species that span a range of niches, from frugivores to insectivores. I will be comparing the genomes of eastern and western populations, investigating how diet and other ecological factors influence the development of divergence across the genomic landscape.