Genome-level resolution of species boundaries and phylogeny of the North American tiger salamander radiation

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Tiger salamanders are used in a range of biological and biomedical research, with much emphasis placed on a single species, the Mexican Axolotl, due to ease of rearing and experimental manipulation. However, this species is just one representative of a large and diverse radiation of tiger salamanders. Collectively, this group can serve as a model system for research ranging from speciation to regeneration, but little is known about how many species actually exist and little is known about their natural history, evolution, development, and relationships. This research will leverage new molecular technologies and existing genetic data to provide a comprehensive assessment of tiger salamander species diversity across North America and place these species into a comparative framework to understand their evolution. Concurrently, there will be development of new statistical tools to identify genes that have been uniquely influenced by other factors, such as natural selection.This research forges a strong link between statistical and biological research programs, an increasingly important form of collaboration as Biology moves further into the realm of genomics. Support and training of human resources will be provided at the postdoctoral and graduate level and persons employed by this grant will be integrated into a modern and multidisciplinary research program. This work will result in the collection of one of the largest set of genetic data at the level of populations for a naturally distributed organism.