Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics of Reptiles and Polar Bears

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Molecular approaches to understanding the evolution of species have led to remarkable discoveries. For example, closely related females of wild species are often side-by-side rather than being broadly mixed with more distantly related females of the same species. In Baja California, Mexico, most species of animals show a pattern of neighbouring lineages on the middle of the peninsula. These have lived side-by-side for more than 3 million years without mixing and in some cases for a much longer period of time. A key focus of this research is to determine why. One hypothesis suggests that the lineages do not mix because their energy-producing enzymes do not work efficiently when they are mixed. Another possibility is that females protect their families against intruders, perhaps termed as the sisterhood hypothesis. A suite of experiments using tree lizards as model animals will be used to evaluate the relative roles played by each of these mechanisms in maintaining the pattern of side-by-side maternal lineages, if any. The analyses have implications for not only understanding how species evolve, but also for conservation and management initiatives, especially as they relate to species translocations.