DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Ectoparasitic Lice Associated with Brood Parasitic Finches Viduidae and their Estrildid Finch Hosts.

大多数鸟类都有从父母传给后代的羽毛虱子，因此虱子物种通常仅限于与它们共享长期共同进化历史的特定宿主。非洲靛蓝鸟（属Vidua）是寄主特异性的育雏寄生虫，仅通过在某些雌雀寄主物种的巢中产卵来繁殖。这些寄生鸟和它们的宿主是两个不同的家族（Viduidae和Estrildidae）的成员，它们在数百万年前从一个共同的祖先分化出来，但它们仍然在宿主巢中保持着亲密的接触。这为研究鸟类和寄生虱之间的进化相互作用提供了一个极好的机会。在NSF国际科学与工程办公室的支持下，这项研究将测试靛蓝鸟是否携带各自宿主物种的虱子，这表明虱子和鸟类之间的联系主要由虱子传播的生态学决定。如果是这样的话，虱子感染的模式可能会让我们深入了解靛蓝鸟的多样化，其中快速的物种形成显然是伴随着新的宿主物种的殖民化。另一方面，如果靛蓝鸟和宿主都有自己独特的虱子，那么虱子和鸟类之间的联系可能会受到虱子对特定宿主谱系的适应的限制。

Most birds have feather lice that are passed from parents to offspring, such that louse species are often restricted to particular hosts with which they share a long co-evolutionary history. The African indigobirds (genus Vidua) are host-specific brood parasites, reproducing only by laying eggs in the nests of certain estrildid finch host species. These parasitic birds and their hosts are members of two distinct families (Viduidae and Estrildidae) that diverged from a common ancestor millions of years ago, yet they have continue to have intimate contact in the host nest. This presents an excellent opportunity to examine evolutionary interactions between birds and parasitic lice. With support from the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering, this research will test whether indigobirds carry the lice of their respective host species, suggesting that associations between lice and birds are determined primarily by the ecology of louse transmission. If so, patterns of lice infestation may lend insight into the diversification of indigobirds, in which rapid speciation has apparently followed the colonization of new host species. On the other hand, if indigobirds and hosts each have their own unique lice, then associations between lice and birds may be constrained by the adaptation of lice to specific host lineages.