RIG: The Behavior and Genetics of Phenotypic Differentiation in the Barn Swallow Species Complex

确定驱动生物多样化的潜在机制是生物学的核心追求。 性选择--基于雄性交配成功率的差异而进化出夸张的雄性观赏性状--对于在种群中塑造雄性的外表很重要，但这种进化机制也可能在种群层面的多样化中发挥重要作用。当交配偏好的变化和种群中雄性装饰物的表达导致种群之间的隔离时，性选择的物种形成就会发生，因为来自不同种群的个体不再承认彼此是潜在的配偶。 这个项目将利用一个非常容易驾驭和广泛分布的物种复合体，谷仓燕子（Hirundo rustica），这是由六个亚种代表世界各地，每个拥有不同的组合的形态和行为特征，已知是在性选择。实验，以测试假设的性别选择的作用下的形态，遗传和行为分化的人群将基于在美国，英国和以色列，这些特征是最分歧的。沿着这些实验，将使用最新的基因组学工具对历史殖民模式和遗传分化进行更大规模的分析。 这套互补的分析将为我们对基本进化过程的理解提供一个新颖、重要和全面的贡献。几个合作项目将直接吸引学生参与这项研究。例如，PI将与科罗拉多大学（CU）的技术、学习和社会联盟（ATLAS）合作，利用其资源开发一门以进化和行为生物学为重点的媒体课程。 PI，在她的第一个终身职位跟踪位置的年轻调查员，也将利用独特的资助机会，为代表性不足的研究生在CU，包括NSF和NIH赞助的科罗拉多多样性倡议。

Determining the underlying mechanisms that drive biological diversification is a central pursuit in Biology. Sexual selection -- the evolution of exaggerated male ornamental traits based on differential mating success of males -- is important for shaping a male's appearance within populations, but this evolutionary mechanism may also have an important role in population-level diversification. Speciation by sexual selection occurs when changes in mate preference and the expression of male ornaments within a population leads to isolation among populations because individuals from separate populations no longer recognize one another as potential mates. This project will take advantage of an extremely tractable and widespread species complex, the barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), which are represented by six sub-species world-wide, each possessing varying combinations of morphological and behavioral traits that are known to be under sexual selection. Experiments to test hypotheses about the role of sexual selection underlying morphological, genetic, and behavioral differentiation among populations will be based in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel where these traits are most divergent. Along with these experiments, larger-scale analyses of historical colonization patterns and genetic differentiation using the latest genomics tools will be conducted. This complementary set of analyses will provide a novel, important and comprehensive contribution to our understanding of fundamental evolutionary processes.Several collaborative projects will directly engage students in this research. For example, the PI will collaborate with the Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society (ATLAS) at the University of Colorado (CU) whose resources will be leveraged to develop a media-based course focused on evolutionary and behavioral biology. The PI, a young investigator in her first tenure track position, will take also take advantage of unique funding opportunities for under-represented graduate students at CU, including the NSF- and NIH-sponsored Colorado Diversity Initiative.