Journal clubs - Page 11

This week we will discuss what are the rate-limiting factors for the establishment of new species. In this regard, we will read a recent paper by Trevor Price and colleagues on the factors determining the rate of speciation in Himalayan song birds. The paper is entitled "Niche filling slows the diversification of Himalayan songbirds" and was recently published in Nature. The findings by Price et al. suggest that it is the rates at which new niches are created and occupied that limits diversification, not the rate at which new species form through reproductive isolation.

This Friday the 9th of May in the MaEcovo journal club we will be discussing a paper by Rabosky et al. (2013): "Rates of speciation and morphological evolution are correlated across the largest vertebrate radiation"

This week we will discuss a paper entitled "On the Coyne and Orr-igin of species: effects of intrinsic postzygotic isolation, ecological differentiation, X-Chromosome size, and symapatry on Drosophila speciation" by Turelli and co-authors from the latest issue of Evolution.  

Paul Taylor is visiting from the NHM London this week. Hence we will capitalize on his expertise and discuss a competition paper by Hart and Marshall 2013 Ecology that uses bryozoa as experimental organisms. 

This Friday the 25th of April in MaEcovo journal club we will be discussing a paper by Losos (Evolution, 2011): "Convergence, adaptation and constraint". Joins us at 10:15 in room 3513.

This Thursday we will discuss the interplay between introgessive hybridization and natural selection. We will read a recent paper by Peter and Rosemary Grant entitled "Synergism of Natural Selection and Introgression in the Origin of a New Species".

We read an older paper to spark discussions on competition.

Download the linnean society paper on "Competition and macroevolution: the ghost of competition yet to come?" here.

This week we will discuss a paper on gene flow and the maintenance of species boundaries in a cricket hybrid zone by Larson and colleagues which was published in the last issue of Molecular Ecology. The paper is entitled Gene flow and the maintenance of species boundaries and there is a perspective by Timothy Vines too for those interested, Stuck in the middle with you: close concordance between geographical clines in a cricket hybrid zone .

Please note that this journal club will take place in the Aquarium!

This week we will discuss the genetics of body shape divergence. We will read a paper by Franchini et al. entitled "Genomic architecture of ecologically divergent body shape in a pair of sympatric crater lake cichlid fishes". This paper was recently published in Molecular Ecology alongside a perspective piece by Rogers and Jamniczky entitled "The shape of things to come in the study of the origin of species?".

We read an older paper on distinguishing between the Red Queen and Court Jester today. Download the pdf here: Barnkosky 2001 Paleobiology

This week we will discuss an interesting perspective on phenotypic evolution, slightly outside the topic of speciation but definitely of high interest to many of us. I hope many of you can join. The paper we will discuss is a perspective by Stevan J. Arnold entitled "Phenotypic evolution: the ongoing synthesis".

This Friday the 21st, MaEcovo journal club will be discussing the 2014 paper by Christin et al.: "Molecular Dating, Evolutionary Rates, and the Age of the Grasses"

This Thursday we will discuss ecological and mutation-order speciation and read a recent paper on digital organisms from the American Naturalist: "Ecological and Mutation-Order Speciation in Digital Organisms" by Anderson & Harmon.

Please note that the meeting will take place at 13:15 this week!  

This Friday 14th of March, the MaEcovo journal club will be discussing the 2013 paper by van der Geer et al.: "Body size evolution of palaeo-insular mammals: temporal variations and interspecific interactions."

This week we will read a recent empirical paper by Chung et al. reporting on a role for a magic trait in Drosophila speciation. The paper is entitled "A Single Gene Affects Both Ecological Divergence and Mate Choice in Drosophila", and was recently published in Science.

This Friday the 7th of March, MaEcovo journal club will discuss a paper by Susumu Tomiya, 2013: "Body Size and Extinction Risk in Terrestrial Mammals Above the Species Level".

This week we will discuss "Species collapse via hybridization in Darwin’s tree finches" - a paper by Kleindorfer et al. recently published in The American Naturalist. 

We read a paper in Journal of Mathematical Biology by Lambert, Morlon and Etienne about a model for diversification when speciation is protracted, as a follow up to last week's reading. It's not yet up on the journal's website but is accessible at arvis.org

This Thursday we will discuss a paper on how speciation- and extinction rates contribute to the latitudinal gradient in mammal diversity. The paper entitled "Faster Speciation and Reduced Extinction in the Tropics Contribute to the Mammalian Latitudinal Diversity Gradient" by Rolland and colleagues was recently published in PloS Biology.  

MaEcovo will discuss a review paper by Helene Morlon regarding models of diversification. Ecology Letters (early view)

On Friday the 14th of February, the MaEcovo journal club will be discussing the 2013 paper by Fussman and Gonzales: "Evolutionary rescue can maintain an oscillating community undergoing environmental change"

This week we will discuss hybridization with Neanderthals and the traces of this in the genomes of modern day humans. We will read a recent Nature paper by Sankarararaman and colleagues entitled "The genomic landscape of Neanderthal ancestry in present-day humans".  

This Friday, 7th of February, in the MaEcovo journal club we will be discussing a paper by Takahashi et al. from 2013:  "Abrupt community transitions and cyclic evolutionary dynamics in complex food webs".

This Thursday we will discuss this interesting recent paper on the likelihood of non-allopatric speciation from the journal Evolution: THE RATE TEST OF SPECIATION: ESTIMATING THE LIKELIHOOD OF NON-ALLOPATRIC SPECIATION FROM REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION RATES IN DROSOPHILA by Roman Yukilevich. It is not published in an issue yet, but you can download the paper from the link above.