Knowledge of drivers of global diversity patterns is limited by the extent to which we understand the evolutionary dynamics that transform undifferentiated taxa into reproductively isolated species. The student would join a group working on processes underlying divergence in wild vertebrate systems, with a particular emphasis on combining information on genomic and phenotypic variation and the importance of changing biotic interactions. Specific examples of current projects include the genomics of divergence in island colonising silvereyes, the island-syndrome in birds, modelling the genomic landscape of divergence under different microevolutionary processes, the role of secondary sympatry and hybridisation in determining evolutionary trajectories of related species, the role of neosex chromosomes in promoting speciation and the biogeography of various species including avian parasites and invertebrates., The details of any DPhil project would be developed with the student, but could include field, molecular lab and modelling approaches. Potential field sites include sites in UK, Australia and south Pacific islands.
