Alexander Suh

TL;DR: A genome-scale phylogenetic analysis of 48 species representing all orders of Neoaves recovered a highly resolved tree that confirms previously controversial sister or close relationships and identifies the first divergence in Neoaves, two groups the authors named Passerea and Columbea.

TL;DR: It is concluded that the heterogeneous landscape of differentiation in Ficedula flycatchers evolves mainly as the result of background selection and selective sweeps in genomic regions of low recombination, and the necessity of incorporating linked selection as a null model to identify genome regions involved in adaptation and speciation is emphasized.

TL;DR: An exceptionally slow rate of genome evolution within crocodilians at all levels is observed, consistent with a single underlying cause of a reduced rate of evolutionary change rather than intrinsic differences in base repair machinery.

TL;DR: The data provide evidence for an “accordion” model of genome size evolution in birds and mammals, whereby the amount of DNA gained by transposable element expansion was counteracted by DNA loss through large segmental deletions, and proposed that extensive DNA loss has been the primary force maintaining the greater genomic compaction of flying birds and bats relative to their flightless relatives.

TL;DR: It is shown that genome-level analyses of 2,118 retrotransposon presence/absence markers converge at a largely consistent Neoaves phylogeny and detect a highly differential temporal prevalence of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS), i.e., the persistence of ancestral genetic variation as polymorphisms during speciation events.