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Showing posts from 2019

New paper: telomere lengths differ between parity modes

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We have a new collaborative paper out with Pat Monaghan and the telomeres lab. The dynamics of telomeres in lizards are really poorly understood. Here we brought together an evolutionary perspective, genetic and pedigree information, and an analysis of telomeres. Also cover image, a beautiful oviparous female and her clutch. McLennan, D., Recknagel, H., Elmer, K.R. and Monaghan, P., 2019. Distinct telomere differences within a reproductively bimodal common lizard population.  Functional Ecology ,  33 (10), pp.1917-1927. Open access full article  here   ABSTRACT Different strategies of reproductive mode, either oviparity (egg‐laying) or viviparity (live‐bearing), will be associated with a range of other life‐history differences that are expected to affect patterns of ageing and longevity. It is usually difficult to compare the effects of alternative reproductive modes because of evolutionary and ecological divergence. However, the very rare exemplars of reproductive bimodality,

fully funded PhD position available in charr population genomics

A competitive fully-funded PhD studentship is be available to study adaptation and population genomics of Scotland's most variable fish the Arctic charr -- with Colin Adams and Kathryn Elmer at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. We are looking for an enthusiastic evolutionary biologist to join our team! Project: The lake-dwelling salmonid fish, the Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is highly diverse both in phenotype and genotype. This takes the form of substantial variation within and between lakes; in some places the latter being expressed as eco-morphologically distinct and reproductively isolated sympatric polymorphisms. In addition the species is of high conservation value in the UK. This project will use high-resolution population genomic techniques to resolve questions about the phylogenetic similarities between allopatric and sympatric populations to inform the taxonomic position of the species and to help identify units that may require conservation protection. Sampl

Welcome to new summer interns!

We welcome our new summer interns! Magdalena Butowska has just finished first year and will be working on molecular lab work of fish mtDNAs, morphometrics and plasticity; Robbie Hussein has just finished second year and will be working on analysing whether pregnancy affects the running speed of lizards; Giuditta Magian won a School of Life Sciences Undergraduate Vacation Scholarship after her third year and is busy working on Team Lizard-catching down in the Alps; Tie Caribe just finished fourth year (whoop!) and was awarded an FSBI internship with Colin Adams. He will be doing some of his lab work up in the roof labs; John Smout finished his Masters in Biotech last year, having done a project with us in the field then, and is also busy with Team Lizard this summer before he starts his PhD with MVLS in the autumn.

New paper: effect of conservation refugia on biodiversity

What is the impact of the 'refuge' or 'ark population' conservation measure on biodiversity? Masters/Honours student Peter Koene along with PhD student Marco Crotti have completed a project on how morphologies and plasticity change in new habitats and after population bottlenecks, studying powan or European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) here in Scotland. Full paper is available here "Differential selection pressures result in a rapid divergence of donor and refuge populations of a high conservation value freshwater fish Coregonus lavaretus (L.)" J. Peter Koene, Marco Crotti, Kathryn R Elmer, Colin E Adams Abstract As a conservation measure to protect European whitefish in Scotland, a translocated popu-lation  was  established  in  Loch  Sloy  from  Loch  Lomond  stock  between  1988  and  1990.  Previous  study  has  assumed  that  current  morphological  differences  between  adults  from  the  donor  and  refuge  lakes  have  arisen  through  phen

New paper: life-history trade-offs of oviparity and viviparity

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Congratulations to Hans and our newest paper - "Differential reproductive investment in co-occurring oviparous and viviparous common lizards ( Zootoca vivipara ) and implications for life-history trade-offs with viviparity". A strength of this study is that it compares oviparity and viviparity reproduction from within the same geographic area and between sister lineages, therefore minimising the effects of environment and phylogeny. The paper is available open access from here, in Oecologia https://rdcu.be/bAGx7 Abstract Live-bearing reproduction (viviparity) has evolved from egg-laying (oviparity) independently many times and most abun-dantly in squamate reptiles. Studying life-history trade-offs between the two reproductive modes is an inherently difficult task, as most transitions to viviparity are evolutionarily old and/or are confounded by environmental effects. The common lizard ( Zootoca vivipara ) is one of very few known reproductively bimodal species, in which

common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, reference genome

Today we released a pre-print of our common lizard genome. Find details here https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/01/15/520528 This is a Scottish lizard, from the Isle of Cumbrae - a member of the western viviparous clade. Her name is Vivacia. Available upon request. Update: spring 2020 the full paper is available now open access Chromosome-Level Assembly of the Common Lizard ( Zootoca vivipara ) Genome