Admixture, the genetic intermixing of divergent populations, plays a crucial role in evolution, influencing genetic diversity and having roles in adaptation and speciation. This dissertation investigates the evolutionary outcomes of admixture through a comprehensive study of genomic data and the development of novel bioinformatic tools. Chapter I focuses on Neotropical cats, specifically Leopardus guttulus and L. geoffroyi, exploring the timing and ecological impacts of admixture events in Southern Brazil and investigating the relationships between this hybridization and the timing of human mediated deforestation in the region. Chapter II, outlines signals of ancestry-specific selection in the Africanized honeybees of Puerto Rico, which have a distinct and agriculturally valuable phenotype that emerged rapidly under extreme human pressures. Chapter III presents a bioinformatic approach that improves the detection and quantification of adaptive introgression by modeling the effects of multi-locus selection on genomic regions introduced through admixture and validates it with an admixed population of European Sparrows. Collectively, this work not only advances our understanding of how admixture shapes genetic diversity and adaptation but also provides novel methodologies for studying these processes in various biological contexts.

Event Host: Maximilian Genetti, Ph.D Candidate, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics

Advisor: Russ Corbett-Detig