Graduation Semester and Year
2018
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Quantitative Biology
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Todd Castoe
Abstract
Understanding the origins of species and biological novelties that allow them to thrive in diverse environments is a key goal in evolutionary biology, and new genomic methods are constantly enabling research using non-model species to address important questions related to speciation and adaptation. Using phylogeographic, population genetic, and comparative genomic methods, I demonstrate that North American rattlesnakes are a uniquely enriched system for investigating patterns and processes at the intersection of adaptation and speciation. Specifically, this dissertation explores the evolution of biological novelty at multiple scales, including the origins of reproductive incompatibilities during the process of gene flow in secondary contact, evidence for links between genomic patterns of selection and locally adapted traits (e.g., venom and reproductive phenotypes), and cryptic genetic diversity in widely-distributed rattlesnake lineages. Detailed investigation of the high-quality prairie rattlesnake genome provides new perspectives into the evolution of genome structure in vertebrates, sex chromosome differentiation, the unique biology and significance of microchromosomes, and the origins of venom, one of the most distinctive features of rattlesnake biology. Collectively, this work serves as an example of the tremendous value that rattlesnakes hold for addressing important evolutionary questions in the age of genomics.
Keywords
Genomics, Evolution, Speciation, Population genetics, Genome, Adaptation, Rattlesnakes
Disciplines
Biology | Life Sciences
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Schield, Drew Roberts, "Rattlesnake genomics illustrate patterns of speciation, adaptation, and links between genome structure and function" (2018). Biology Dissertations. 163.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/biology_dissertations/163
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington