New paper: Colour genes under selection in colourful salamanders
Burgon, J.D., Vieites, D.R., Jacobs, A., Weidt, S.K., Gunter, H.M., Steinfartz, S., Burgess, K., Mable, B.K. and Elmer, K.R., 2020. Functional colour genes and signals of selection in colour polymorphic salamanders. Molecular Ecology. in press online early Led by PhD student James Burgon, this paper is a favourite! a project started with colleagues in Scotland, Germany and Spain, coming from plans that were long in the pipeline. A new set of colour candidate genes for amphibians. Abstract Colouration has been associated with multiple biologically relevant traits that drive adaptation and diversification in many taxa. However, despite the great diversity of colour patterns present in amphibians the underlying molecular basis is largely unknown. Here, we leverage insight from a highly colour‐variable lineage of the European fire salamander ( Salamandra salamandra bernardezi ) to identify functional associations with striking variation in colour morph and pattern. The thr...