A Latitudinal Gradient of Reference Genomes.

Global inequality rooted in legacies of colonialism and uneven development can lead to systematic biases in scientific knowledge. In ecology and evolutionary biology, findings, funding and research effort are disproportionately concentrated at high latitudes, while biological diversity is concentrated at low latitudes. This discrepancy may have a particular influence in fields like phylogeography, molecular ecology and conservation genetics, where the rise of genomics has increased the cost and technical expertise required to apply state-of-the-art methods.

Records from Neotropical non-breeding grounds reveal shifts in bird migration phenology over six decades.

Changes in the migration phenology of birds linked to global change are extensively documented. Longitudinal studies from temperate breeding grounds have mostly shown earlier arrivals in the spring and a variety of patterns during fall migration, yet no studies have addressed whether and how migration phenology has changed using data from the tropical non-breeding grounds. Understanding whether changes in migratory phenology are also evident in non-breeding sites is essential to determining the underlying causes of patterns documented in breeding areas.

A reference genome for the Andean cavefish Trichomycterus rosablanca (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae): Building genomic resources to study evolution in cave environments.

Animals living in caves are of broad relevance to evolutionary biologists interested in understanding the mechanisms underpinning convergent evolution. In the Eastern Andes of Colombia, populations from at least two distinct clades of Trichomycterus catfishes (Siluriformes) independently colonized cave environments and converged in phenotype by losing their eyes and pigmentation. We are pursuing several research questions using genomics to understand the evolutionary forces and molecular mechanisms responsible for repeated morphological changes in this system.

First genetic insights of (Reptilia, Gekkota) in the Galapagos Islands and mainland Ecuador.

Studies on genetic variability amongst native and introduced species contribute to a better understanding of the genetic diversity of species along their autochthonous distribution and identify possible routes of introduction. is a gecko native to western Ecuador and introduced to the Galapagos Islands. Despite being a successful species in human-modified habitats along its native and non-native ranges, neither the colonisation process nor the genetic diversity of this gecko is known.

Environmental niche and flight intensity are associated with molecular evolutionary rates in a large avian radiation.

Background: Metabolic activity and environmental energy are two of the most studied putative drivers of molecular evolutionary rates. Their extensive study, however, has resulted in mixed results and has rarely included the exploration of interactions among various factors impacting molecular evolutionary rates across large clades. Taking the diverse avian family Furnariidae as a case study, we examined the association between several estimates of molecular evolutionary rates with proxies of metabolic demands imposed by flight (wing loading and wing shape) and proxies of environmental energy across the geographic ranges of species (temperature and UV radiation).

Variation in insulative feather structure in songbirds replacing each other along a tropical elevation gradient.

High-elevation organisms are expected to evolve physiological adaptations to cope with harsh environmental conditions. Yet, evidence for such adaptive differences, especially compared to closely related lowland taxa occurring along the same elevational gradient, is rare. Revisiting an anecdotal natural history observation by O.

Migratory connectivity then and now: a northward shift in breeding origins of a long-distance migratory bird wintering in the tropics.

Temporal variation in the connectivity of populations of migratory animals has not been widely documented, despite having important repercussions for population ecology and conservation. Because the long-distance movements of migratory animals link ecologically distinct and geographically distant areas of the world, changes in the abundance and migratory patterns of species may reflect differential drivers of demographic trends acting over various spatial scales. Using stable hydrogen isotope analyses (H) of feathers from historical museum specimens and contemporary samples obtained in the field, we provide evidence for an approximately 600 km northward shift over 45 years in the breeding origin of a species of songbird of major conservation concern (blackpoll warbler, ) wintering in the foothills of the eastern Andes of Colombia.

Change in avian functional fingerprints of a Neotropical montane forest over 100 years as an indicator of ecosystem integrity.

Ecologically relevant traits of organisms in an assemblage determine an ecosystem's functional fingerprint (i.e., the shape, size, and position of multidimensional trait space).

Speciation Associated with Shifts in Migratory Behavior in an Avian Radiation.

Migratory animals move up to thousands of kilometers every year [1]. Losses of migration (i.e.

Assembly of a High-Quality Reference Genome for the Horned Lark ().

The Horned Lark () is a small songbird that exhibits remarkable geographic variation in appearance and habitat across an expansive distribution. While has been the focus of many ecological and evolutionary studies, we still lack a highly contiguous genome assembly for the Horned Lark and related taxa (Alaudidae). Here, we present CLO_EAlp_1.

An extinct hummingbird species that never was: a cautionary tale about sampling issues in molecular phylogenetics.

The selection of species and individuals for molecular analyses critically affects inferences in various fields of systematic biology including phylogenetics, phylogeography, and species delimitation. Especially in areas like the Neotropical region where molecular analyses have recovered substantial within-species divergence and unexpected affinities of populations (Turchetto-Zolet et al. 2013), biases resulting from incomplete taxonomic or geographic sampling may compromise the understanding of phylogenetic relationships (Avendaño et al.

Neutral and functionally important genes shed light on phylogeography and the history of high-altitude colonization in a widespread New World duck.

Phylogeographic studies often infer historical demographic processes underlying species distributions based on patterns of neutral genetic variation, but spatial variation in functionally important genes can provide additional insights about biogeographic history allowing for inferences about the potential role of adaptation in geographic range evolution. Integrating data from neutral markers and genes involved in oxygen (O)-transport physiology, we test historical hypotheses about colonization and gene flow across low- and high-altitude regions in the Ruddy Duck (), a widely distributed species in the New World. Using multilocus analyses that for the first time include populations from the Colombian Andes, we also examined the hypothesis that Ruddy Duck populations from northern South America are of hybrid origin.

Host species, and not environment, predicts variation in blood parasite prevalence, distribution, and diversity along a humidity gradient in northern South America.

Environmental factors strongly influence the ecology and evolution of vector-borne infectious diseases. However, our understanding of the influence of climatic variation on host-parasite interactions in tropical systems is rudimentary. We studied five species of birds and their haemosporidian parasites ( and ) at 16 sampling sites to understand how environmental heterogeneity influences patterns of parasite prevalence, distribution, and diversity across a marked gradient in water availability in northern South America.

Assessing seasonal changes in animal diets with stable-isotope analysis of amino acids: a migratory boreal songbird switches diet over its annual cycle.

Tools to study seasonal changes in animal diets are needed to address a wide range of ecological questions. This is especially true of migratory animals that experience distinct environments where diets may be substantially different. However, tracking diets of individuals that move vast distances has proven difficult.

Origin and cross-century dynamics of an avian hybrid zone.

Background: Characterizations of the dynamics of hybrid zones in space and time can give insights about traits and processes important in population divergence and speciation. We characterized a hybrid zone between tanagers in the genus Ramphocelus (Aves, Thraupidae) located in southwestern Colombia. We evaluated whether this hybrid zone originated as a result of secondary contact or of primary differentiation, and described its dynamics across time using spatial analyses of molecular, morphological, and coloration data in combination with paleodistribution modeling.

Issues and Perspectives in Species Delimitation using Phenotypic Data: Atlantean Evolution in Darwin's Finches.

Progress in the development and use of methods for species delimitation employing phenotypic data lags behind conceptual and practical advances in molecular genetic approaches. The basic evolutionary model underlying the use of phenotypic data to delimit species assumes random mating and quantitative polygenic traits, so that phenotypic distributions within a species should be approximately normal for individuals of the same sex and age. Accordingly, two or more distinct normal distributions of phenotypic traits suggest the existence of multiple species.

On the importance of geographic and taxonomic sampling in phylogeography: A reevaluation of diversification and species limits in a Neotropical thrush (Aves, Turdidae).

Phylogeographic studies seeking to describe biogeographic patterns, infer evolutionary processes, and revise species-level classification should properly characterize the distribution ranges of study species, and thoroughly sample genetic variation across taxa and geography. This is particularly necessary for widely distributed organisms occurring in complex landscapes, such as the Neotropical region. Here, we clarify the geographic range and revisit the phylogeography of the Black-billed Thrush (Turdus ignobilis), a common passerine bird from lowland tropical South America, whose evolutionary relationships and species limits were recently evaluated employing phylogeographic analyses based on partial knowledge of its distribution and incomplete sampling of populations.

Toxic metals and associated sporulated bacteria on Andean hummingbird feathers.

Human activities in the Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia, release toxic metals such as lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) into the environment polluting the air, water, and soil. Because birds are in contact with these pollutants and their sources, they may serve as bioindicator organisms. We evaluated the use of hummingbird feathers obtained from individuals captured in three sites of the Sabana de Bogotá as bioindicators of toxic metal pollution using spectrophotometric and spectroscopic methods based on single-feather samples.

The Yellow-green Bush-tanager is neither a bush-tanager nor a sparrow: Molecular phylogenetics reveals that Chlorospingus flavovirens is a tanager (Aves: Passeriformes; Thraupidae).

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of the genus Chlorospingus (Aves: Emberizidae) indicate that the genus is not monophyletic because Chlorospingus flavovirens is actually a member of the tanager family (Thraupidae), in which its closest relatives are members of the genus Bangsia. We thus propose that C. flavovirens be transferred to Thraupidae and to the genus Bangsia.