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SUMMARY:Evolutionary Genetics of Visual Preferences: Beauty\, Brains and B
 utterfly Diversity - Richard Merrill\; LMU Munich\, Germany
DTSTART:20240227T160000Z
DTEND:20240227T170000Z
UID:TALK205633@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Emília Santos
DESCRIPTION:Visual attraction is an important driver of mate choice and se
 xual selection\, but little is known about the underlying genes\, or how t
 hey evolve. I will talk about a long-term project focused on the genetics 
 and sensory ecology of visual preferences that are known to contribute to 
 speciation in Heliconius butterflies. By combining population genomic and 
 gene expression analyses\, data from hundreds of behavioural experiments\,
  and genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9\, we have been able to link a specif
 ic gene to the evolution of visual preference behaviours.  I will discuss 
 how these results i) implicate a role for interspecific hybridization\, an
 d adaptive introgression\, during the evolution of behaviour\; and ii) als
 o show how visually-guided behaviours contributing to adaptation and speci
 ation can be encoded within the genome.  Finally\, I hope to introduce som
 e emerging work in which we are attempting to place these results within t
 he broader context of visual evolution\, including the specific cues invol
 ved and shifts in visual acuity associated with changes in habitat.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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