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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Phylogeographic History Of The Leaf-Eared Mouse, Phyllotis Xanthopygus Complex, Tabitha R. Mcfarland
Phylogeographic History Of The Leaf-Eared Mouse, Phyllotis Xanthopygus Complex, Tabitha R. Mcfarland
Biology ETDs
Museum collections provide essential biodiversity sampling needed to understand the species limits, phylogeny, and biogeographic history of mammals, all key features of the foundation for comparative analyses in ecology and evolution. We add to this framework a diverse assemblage of species of leaf-eared mice (genus Phyllotis) in South America and then focus on the Phyllotis xanthopygus complex by combining available mitochondrial sequence (cytochrome b; cytb) data (351 GenBank samples) with 52 newly sequenced museum samples from the northern extent of this complex’s range (51 from Bolivia and 1 from northern Chile) to reconstruct evolutionary relationships using maximum …
Comparative Phylogeography Across Multiple Scales: Small Mammals, Their Ecology, Pathogens, And Drivers Of Diversification, Schuyler W. Liphardt
Comparative Phylogeography Across Multiple Scales: Small Mammals, Their Ecology, Pathogens, And Drivers Of Diversification, Schuyler W. Liphardt
Biology ETDs
Comparative phylogeography has historically been defined as the study of how genetic variation of co-distributed species has been shaped by biogeographical history. This is a mature field of study out of which several techniques have been developed directed at identifying the role ecology and geography in diversification patterns across time. I employ the tools developed in classical comparative phylogeography across multiple taxonomic scales and across regions that historically have been understudied. My first two chapters study the complex history of host-switching, codiversification, and reassortment of hantaviruses in their mammal hosts across North America. By taking a host-centric comparative phylogeographic approach …
Phylogeography And Population Dynamics Of North American Wolverines (Gulo Gulo Luscus) In Alaska And Western Canada, Dianna Krejsa
Phylogeography And Population Dynamics Of North American Wolverines (Gulo Gulo Luscus) In Alaska And Western Canada, Dianna Krejsa
Biology ETDs
The circumboreal wolverine (Gulo gulo sp.) is ideal for studying responses to environmental perturbation in the North due to a history of persistence in glacial refugia and subsequent glacial recolonization. Wolverines are also excellent indicators of human influence on the environment due to their close association with remote areas and cold, snowy climes. Through the use of genetic tools (i.e., nuclear microsatellite loci and mitochondrial sequences), I examined population structure of wolverines in Alaska and western Canada to identify signatures of glacial refugia, bottlenecks, and distinctive populations, sex-biased dispersal, gene flow, and source and sink population dynamics. I identified genetic …
The Molecular Systematics And Phylogeography Of The Widespread North American Meadow Vole (Microtus Pennsylvanicus), Donavan J. Jackson
The Molecular Systematics And Phylogeography Of The Widespread North American Meadow Vole (Microtus Pennsylvanicus), Donavan J. Jackson
Biology ETDs
The climatic and environmental fluctuations of the Quaternary played an integral role in geographic distribution and genetic structure within many organisms today. Understanding how these historical biogeographic events may have partitioned genetic variation throughout the landscape is critical to forecasting the implications of modern climate change and how animals will respond to projected climate shifts. Through geographic and taxonomically comprehensive sampling, we used multi-locus and species delimitation analyses along with niche modeling methods to investigate the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus. The findings of this study highlight the vulnerability and importance that special consideration …