The evolution and genomics of migratory body shape in a marine fish

Animal migration is one of the most fascinating phenomena in the natural world. While we know that animal migrations are often driven by food availability or tradeoffs between survival and breeding, we know relatively less about the evolution of migration at the genetic level. This seminar will explore the evolution of streamlined body shape by comparing resident and migratory ecotypes of a marine fish. The genetic basis of migration maps to four large inversions in the genome. Theory predicts that such architectures evolve under high gene flow when the genetic basis of the trait is highly polygenic. The empirical data is used to test the theoretical predictions, and we find that empirical patterns align with expectations for a highly polygenic architecture.

Speaker: Katie Lotterhos, Northeastern University