Abstract
Levels of adaptive genomic diversity are regulated by the interplay of demographic dynamics and selection. In this talk, I will show how complicated such an interplay can be using the King and Emperor penguins as model systems. On one hand, we found that selection on genes is primarily determined by their level of gene expression, almost completely overwhelming the role of population size in highly expressed genes. On the other hand, we show that a quite sub-optimal reproductive strategy in terms of offspring production and survival is actually selecting genetically fitter individuals. Our results also highlight the weaknesses of the classic view on neutral genetic diversity.