The role of hybridization in generating biodiversity: insights from genomics of Madagascars true lemurs (Eulemur)

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A fundamental goal in biological research is to understand how new species form, as this process has ultimately given rise to the incredible diversity of life on earth. Studies of species formation often focus on understanding how differences accumulate and interbreeding ceases. However, recent research has shown that hybridization – the sharing of genes and traits between different species – is common across the Tree of Life. Could hybridization play an important and overlooked role in the process of species formation? To help answer this question, this project will focus on a group of primates from Madagascar called the true lemurs, which have a high level of species diversity and a documented history of hybridization. The researchers will use genetic information from these lemurs to investigate the role of hybridization at multiple levels: how it shapes the genome, how it shapes the formation of new species, and how it shapes evolutionary history over longer timescales. This project will afford opportunities to integrate Malagasy students, U.S. students from underrepresented groups, and conservation practitioners, leading to synergistic relationships and helping to conserve Madagascar’s unique and threatened biodiversity.The overarching goals of this project are to understand how new species form in the face of hybridization and gene flow, and to expose the genomic signatures of these processes across a diversifying radiation. First, patterns of gene flow, selection, and genome architecture will be examined across a hybrid zone within the true lemurs (Eulemur) where the speciation process can be observed in action. Second, the researchers will explore how hybridization and introgression have shaped the deeper evolutionary history of all Eulemur and will ask whether the observed patterns are repeated and predictable across the clade. Finally, they will bring together data on geographic range, diet, and social behavior to construct a model aimed at understanding the extrinsic factors that facilitate hybridization. This project will yield insights into the origins of species in a hyperdiverse region of the world and will provide useful information to systematists contending with signatures of gene flow in their analyses.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.