Middle America as an aquatic evolutionary laboratory

My research program uses integrative and interdisciplinary approaches to test hypotheses about the origin, diversity, and distribution of Neotropical fishes across broad temporal, spatial, and taxonomic scales. Most of my work focuses on freshwater fishes in Mexico and Central America, where the dynamic, complex geology and hydrology make this region a perfect evolutionary laboratory. 

Check out news and updates below, as well as ongoing research and recent publications!


NEWS and UPDATES

March 2024 Congrats to Ph.D. student César Fuentes Montejo on leading a new publication studying ecology of the enigmatic cichlid Rocio spinosissima from Guatemala.

January 2024 — Caleb was just awarded a new NSF grant through the Biodiversity on a Changing Planet program. We are excited to begin work on this project. The lab also recently returned from fieldwork in southern and central Mexico, in collaboration with colleagues from several universities in Mexico.

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Cichlid genomics - when data agree to disagree

Using genomic data for phylogenetics can offer new hypotheses for evolutionary relationships, but we’ve found it’s important to study the datasets and understand limitations and explanations for differing results when comparing genomic markers. We found this to be the case in working to understand relationships among Heroine cichlids and where Greater Antilles cichlids belong in evolutionary trees.

Publication can be found open access here in Genome Biology & Evolution.

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Fishes have been swallowing microplastics since the 1950s

To learn how microplastics have built up over the past century, we examined the guts of freshwater fishes preserved in museum collections; we found that fishes have been swallowing microplastics since the 1950s and that the concentration of microplastics in their guts has increased over time.

Read a summary of the study here.
Publication can be found here in Ecological Applications.