New paper in Systematic Biology on rosy finches led by Erik
Erik, Scott, and collaborators Garth Spellman (Denver Museum of Nature and Science), Kevin Winker (University of Alaska), Jack Withrow (University of Alaska), Erika Zavaleta (University of California Santa Cruz), and Kristen Ruegg (Colorado State University), recently published some of their work on rosy-finches in Systematic Biology. This work uses whole genome sequence data to examine how different evolutionary processes have shaped population genomic, and phylogenomic structure across rosy-finch species. We find support for numerous phylogenetic clades that correspond with morphological variation such as plumage color. Despite support for these clades, we also find signals of widespread introgression across nearly all rosy-finch species, suggesting contemporary genetic patterns are the result of a balance between gene flow and genetic drift or selection. Read about the rest of our findings .