Jason Munshi-South

Don’t miss our FINAL COMPARATIVE BEHAVIORAL BIOLOGY seminar of the year by:

JASON MUNSHI-SOUTH

from the Louis Calder Center & Dept of Biological Sciences at Fordham University

“A Tale of Two Rodents: Evolution of deer mice and rats in New York City” 

Wednesday, June 1st @ 12pm 

in Biopsychological Sciences Building (BPSB 940 E 57th St) Room 122

Abstract: A unique assemblage of native and nonnative rodents inhabit New York City, but differ in their occupancy of “green” and “gray” infrastructure. They also vary in their ability to disperse through heterogenous urban landscapes, which can have profound implications for genetic drift, migration, and selection in urban populations. For the past seven years my lab has been using population genomic approaches to investigate the evolutionary biology of white-footed mouse populations in and around New York City. This talk reviews our work on loss of genome-wide variation, evolutionary potential, historical demography, and natural selection in these populations. Unlike white-footed mice that are isolated in urban forests, NYC rats avoid forest fragments but occupy much of the remaining urban habitat. Our lab has recently begun investigating the population genomics of NYC rats to understand how they use urban space, how they have adapted to new urban conditions, and how they are related to rat populations around the world.

If you are interested in meeting with Dr. Munshi-South during his visit, please contact Christine Fleener at cfleener@uchicago.edu 

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