Macroevolutionary studies of trait evolution are incomplete without the integration of speciation and extinction rates. The frequency of a character state on the tips of a phylogenetic tree is not only the result of the trait change per se but is also a function of lineage diversification if the character state is linked to speciation and extinction rates. In this talk, I will show three different examples of trait evolution linked to diversification.

Understanding the proximate (physiological/developmental) and ultimate (evolutionary) mechanisms that drive adaptive responses to human-altered environments is among the most pressing concerns of contemporary organismal biology and conservation. Human modifications to the natural world present extreme and novel environments for many species around the globe, and offer unique opportunities to study the process of evolution in real-time.

Mechanical deformations of DNA are ubiquitously part of universal biological processes involved in the transduction of genetic information. Although the average compliance of DNA to accommodate such deformations has been extensively measured, biophysical measurements of DNA have never been conducted on a genome-wide scale. Consequently, we lack experimental understanding of the extent to which the local mechanical properties of DNA vary with sequence along entire genomes, and how such variations modulate the energetics of diverse biological processes.

Each animal contains a rich diversity and lineage of cell types, equal in complexity to the diversity of animal species themselves. However, much less is known about the origins of cell type. Dr. Phil Abitua, who has done his graduate research with Mike Levine (UCB) and postdoc research with Alex Schier (Harvard), will speak on his work to reconstruct the evolutionary origins of two important vertebrate-specific cell types: neurogenic placodes and neural crest cells.