The Evolution Conference 2016 (1 Viewer)

[Peter Kovalik]

The Evolution Conference, Austin, Texas, June 17-21, 2016.

Full program pdf

Includes:

Carl Oliveros; R. Moyle; M. Andersen; P. Hosner; B. Benz; J. Manthey; S. Travers; R. Brown; B. Faircloth. Tectonic collision and uplift of Wallacea triggered the global songbird radiation.

Peter Hosner; Joseph Tobias; Ed Braun; Rebecca Kimball. Evolution of vagility and convergent island gigantism in quail (Aves: Coturnix).

Antonin Machac; Knud Jønsson; Carsten Rahbek. Ecology of avian diversification across islands.

Jessica Weber; O. Chung; H. Kim; Y. Kim; Y.S. Cho; J. McGuire; R. Dudley; E. Beckman; J. Mudge; C. Witt; J. Bhak et al. Whole genome comparisons among hummingbirds reveal targets of natural selection during repeated high-altitude colonization.

Phred Benham; Zachary Cheviron. Genetic divergence predicts the degree of physiological divergence in salt marsh Savannah Sparrows.

David Toews; Scott Taylor; Alan Brelsford; Rachel Vallender; Bronwyn Butcher; Philipp Messer; Irby Lovette. Plumage genes and little else distinguish the genomes of hybridizing golden-winged and blue-winged warblers.

Jonathan Kennedy; Knud Jønsson; Michael Borregaard; Ben Holt; Jon Fjeldså; Carsten Rahbek. The repeated colonization of new biogeographic regions promotes lineage diversification among the Corvides (Aves: Passeriformes).

Leonardo Campagna; Márcio Repenning; Luís Fábio Silveira; Carla Suertegaray Fontana; Pablo Tubaro; Irby Lovette. Divergent phenotypes despite (mostly) homogeneous genomes: insights from a continental avian radiation.

Daniel Cadena; David Ocampo; Paulo Pulgarín. What limits the elevational ranges of tropical birds? A test of two little-studied mechanisms.

Jessica Oswald; M. Harvey; R. Remsen; D. Foxworth; D. Dittmann; S. Cardiff; R. Brumfield. Divergence and hybridization shape genomic diversity among three closely related water bird species (Aves; Plegadis).

Elizabeth Scordato; Rebecca Safran; Nolan Kane; Matt Wilkins; Georgy Semenov. Genomic basis of hybridization in two barn swallow contact zones.

Jessie Salter. A phylogenomic hypothesis of relationships among Typical Owls (Strigidae).

Ethan Linck. hyRAD, Museum Genomics, and Phylogeography of a New Guinea Forest Kingfisher.

Luke Bloch. Phylogeography of Wallacean Forest Birds.

Jessica Oswald; Isaac Overcast; William Mauck III; Michael Andersen; Brian Smith. Asymmetric gene flow during the protracted diversification of two Neotropical-aridland bird communities.

Jason Weir; Oliver Haddrath; Hugh Robertson; Rogan Colbourne; Allan Baker. Ice ages drove explosive diversification of kiwi: a phylogenomic perspective.

Gregory Thom; F. Amaral; A. Aleixo; C. Ribas; C. Miyaki. Phenotypic and genetic structure supports cladogenesis and introgression in an Amazonian flooded forest specialist, the Ashbreasted Antbird species complex.

Kristina Ramstad; Hugh Robertson; Rachael Abbott; Charles Daugherty. Fine-scale isolation by distance and genetic bottleneck effects in New Zealand's rarest kiwi (Apteryx rowi).

Chris Smith; Elizabeth Scordato; Samuel Flaxman; Rebecca Safran. Analyzing the demographic history of three admixed Barn Swallow subspecies using approximate Bayesian computation.

Nadia Fernandez; Jacqueline Doyle; Todd Katzner; Gary Roemer; James Cain; Brian Millsap; Carol McIntyre; Sarah Sonsthagen; Maria Wheeler; Zafar Bulut; Peter Bloom et al. Genetic structure and viability selection in the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), a vagile raptor with a holarctic distribution.

Shawn Billerman; Matthew Carling. An integrative approach to understanding hybrid zone movement and introgression in Sphyrapicus woodpeckers.

Alana Alexander; Joseph Manthey; Frederick Sheldon; Robert Moyle. One kingfisher, two kingfisher, red kingfisher, blue kingfisher: using RADseq to describe the species status of the Oriental dwarf kingfisher.

Nicholas Crouch; Karolis Ramanauskas. Total-evidence analyses support a Cretaceous origin of Telluraves.

John McCormack; Eugenia Zarza; Brant Faircloth; Whitney Tsai; Robert Bryson; John Klicka. Testing for hidden histories of gene flow in highland birds using genomic markers.

Rafael Marcondes; Gustavo Bravo; Robb Brumfield. Interspecific variation in plumage brightness in relation to light environment among antbirds.

Stephen Scribner; Brent Burt. Testing hypotheses for the evolution of dark facial stripes in birds.

Noor White; Michael Braun; Ed Braun; Brant Faircloth. Progress in resolving the avian tree of life.

Malia Santos; Ramona Flatz; Christopher Smith; Mimi Kessler. Determining the genetic differentiation between populations of Great Bustards (Otis tarda) in Europe & Asia.

Tyler Imfeld; Keith Barker. The relationship of species diversification and morphological evolution in New World oscines.

Josie Griffin. Geographic genomic variation detected in recently adapted populations of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) previously described as undifferentiated.

George Tiley; Rebecca Kimball; Ed Braun; Peter Hosner; J. Gordon Burleigh. The genome of Bambusicola thoracicus and insights on molecular evolution in Phasianidae.

Benjamin Van Doren; Leonardo Campagna; Barbara Helm; Juan Carlos Illera; Irby Lovette; Miriam Liedvogel. Parallel signatures of selection in an avian family: genomic landscapes of genetic diversity and divergence are conserved across evolutionary time.

Joseph Manthey; Michael Andersen; Carl Oliveros; Chris Filardi; Robert Moyle. Genomic phylogeography of a “Great Speciator” (Zosterops sp.): isolation and gene flow variation among Solomon Islands populations.

 

[MJB]

The Evolution Conference, Austin, Texas, June 17-21, 2016.Full program pdf

I love the irony since in 2010 an incredible percentage of Texans didn't accept evolution:
"— 51 percent disagree with the statement, “Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.”
— 38 percent agree with the statement, “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.”
— 30 percent agree with the statement, “Humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time.” Another 30 percent said they “don’t know” whether the statement is true."

The full article (with links) is here:http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/02/19/82946/texas-evolution/

I wonder if there have been any protestors against this conference?
MJB

 

[Mysticete]

Austin is a liberal mecca in an otherwise red state, and a lot of fantastic research is carried out at the UT Austin. Given there was no protest at the Vertebrate Paleontology meetings that were held there a decade or so ago, I don't know why this meeting would get any protests.

I love the irony since in 2010 an incredible percentage of Texans didn't accept evolution:
"— 51 percent disagree with the statement, “Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.”
— 38 percent agree with the statement, “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.”
— 30 percent agree with the statement, “Humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time.” Another 30 percent said they “don’t know” whether the statement is true."

The full article (with links) is here:http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/02/19/82946/texas-evolution/

I wonder if there have been any protestors against this conference?
MJB

 

[James Lowther]

just a perfect exemplar of the great contradiction that is the US, one the one hand the world's most advanced scientific community, on the other, well, I don't want to say anything impolite.....

if we now think social divisions are big in Britain we haven't really seen anything...

James

 

[MJB]

Austin is a liberal mecca in an otherwise red state, and a lot of fantastic research is carried out at the UT Austin. Given there was no protest at the Vertebrate Paleontology meetings that were held there a decade or so ago, I don't know why this meeting would get any protests.

Austin is indeed a shining beacon of rational thought and discourse, but would many of the opposite persuasion even know what Vertebrate Paleontology was? This time it's the 'e'- word! Perhaps the rest of Texas is mulling over the kicking the Supreme Court today gave to Texas appellants...:t:
MJB

 

[D Halas]

I love the irony since in 2010 an incredible percentage of Texans didn't accept evolution:
"— 51 percent disagree with the statement, “Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.”
— 38 percent agree with the statement, “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.”
— 30 percent agree with the statement, “Humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time.” Another 30 percent said they “don’t know” whether the statement is true."

The full article (with links) is here:http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/02/19/82946/texas-evolution/

I wonder if there have been any protestors against this conference?
MJB

Two years ago, the Evolution conference was in Charlotte, North Carolina – also not the most progressive state. There was one lonely fellow standing outside in the heat handing out bananas with Bible verses written on them, but no other protesters, so far as I know.

 

[Jim M.]

I wonder if there have been any protestors against this conference?
MJB

I doubt it. Even in Texas, the U.S. hasn't regressed back to the 1925 mindset of the Scopes trial where advocacy of evolution is considered offensive. The Creationist agenda is more modest: they want evolution recognized as a theory rather than a "fact", and they want creation "science" recognized as legitimate, so that it is taught in (public-funded) schools along with evolution. (I would certainly oppose even these more modest goals, since creation "science" is nothing but religious dogma in objective dress.)

 

[Mysticete]

The media gives a somewhat skewed picture of religion in the USA. While I don't doubt that poll numbers for belief in evolution are correct, a good chunk of those who don't believe it are likely too apathetic to protest, and most probably don't even follow local happenings enough to realize a conference is going on. And if your a religious fundamentalist and you want to protest, odds are you are going to go to an abortion clinic or similar venue.

I have been attending diverse scientific conferences for over a decade now (god I feel old saying that). I think the only protesting I have ever even is usually the small contingent present at some marine mammal meetings protesting keeping whales in captivity (and that was by conference attendees, not random locals). I can't say I have ever seen a single other form of protest at a meeting, no matter how loud the word evolution is trumpeted.

 

[MJB]

The media gives a somewhat skewed picture of religion in the USA. While I don't doubt that poll numbers for belief in evolution are correct, a good chunk of those who don't believe it are likely too apathetic to protest, and most probably don't even follow local happenings enough to realize a conference is going on. And if your a religious fundamentalist and you want to protest, odds are you are going to go to an abortion clinic or similar venue.

I have been attending diverse scientific conferences for over a decade now (god I feel old saying that). I think the only protesting I have ever even is usually the small contingent present at some marine mammal meetings protesting keeping whales in captivity (and that was by conference attendees, not random locals). I can't say I have ever seen a single other form of protest at a meeting, no matter how loud the word evolution is trumpeted.

Good to hear!:t:
MJB

 

[fugl]

The media gives a somewhat skewed picture of religion in the USA. While I don't doubt that poll numbers for belief in evolution are correct, a good chunk of those who don't believe it are likely too apathetic to protest, and most probably don't even follow local happenings enough to realize a conference is going on. And if your a religious fundamentalist and you want to protest, odds are you are going to go to an abortion clinic or similar venue.

I have been attending diverse scientific conferences for over a decade now (god I feel old saying that). I think the only protesting I have ever even is usually the small contingent present at some marine mammal meetings protesting keeping whales in captivity (and that was by conference attendees, not random locals). I can't say I have ever seen a single other form of protest at a meeting, no matter how loud the word evolution is trumpeted.

Indeed, the real passion is against the teaching of evolution in middle and high school. Outside those contexts, the antis are much less engaged.

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Alana Alexander; Joseph Manthey; Frederick Sheldon; Robert Moyle. One kingfisher, two kingfisher, red kingfisher, blue kingfisher: using RADseq to describe the species status of the Oriental dwarf kingfisher.

Marine Genomics Group Seminars: RADseq for non-model species

The Oriental dwarf-kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca; Linnaeus 1758), has a broad distribution across the southern/south-eastern Asian mainland, adjacent land-bridge islands, and multiple oceanic island archipelagos, and shows considerable color variation, ranging from blue/black on the back, ear patch, forehead and coverets/primary wing feathers, through a color morph lacking the blue markings, and having red dorsal coloration. Here, we generated a RAD-seq dataset for the dwarf kingfisher and its sister species. We demonstrated that the phylogenetic split between the migratory blue-backed birds (C. erithaca), and sedentary red-backed birds (resurrection of the species C. rufidorsa) is well-supported, paving the way for future analyses of the genetic components underpinning differences in migratory behavior between these sister species.

 

[cajanuma]

Videos of some of the presentations from the conference can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLbk92wFKK32tphMS0saI7Q/videos

 

[cwbirder]

As cajanuma has noted, videos of some of the talks can be found at that link. There is also an index of sorts of the videos that is available as a google spreadsheet at this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VbQiL5ABL5E1snnFE2k3G6zS0erdUdywAuaXWucDK1E/edit#gid=0