Home - Molecular Ecology Lab at Flinders University

We use information from genetics and genomics to address pure and applied research questions in population, conservation and evolutionary biology.
Our emphasis is on aquatic animals (particularly fishes, marine mammals and invertebrates) – but we also enjoy working with terrestrial organisms!
We do fieldwork in Australia and in other regions of the world including Amazonia, Patagonia, Gulf of California, southern Africa, Pampas, Cerrado, Galapagos, Indo-Pacific and Antarctica.

News

Adaptive resilience to projected future climates 5 Aug 20. Our lab's work published in PNAS found that the potential of species to adapt to climate change depends on where they evolved. We looked at the capacity of life to respond to future climates in three different regions: temperate and subtropical regions, and in deserts. We did this by studying rainbowfishes from Australia. Click here for open access PDF of the paper. Also see our popular article about this work on The Conversation. Reference: Sandoval-Castillo J, Gates K, Brauer CJ, Smith S,...
A TREE review in aquatic landscape genomics 28 Mar 19. Our TREE review paper on aquatic landscape genomics is now published! In this collaborative work with US and Canadian scientists we provide researchers with a roadmap to plan aquatic landscape genomics projects by aggregating spatial and software resources and offering recommendations from sampling to data production and analyses, while cautioning against analytical pitfalls. Grummer JA, Beheregaray LB, Bernatchez L, Hand B, Luikart G, Narum SR, Taylor EB (2019) Aquatic landscape genomics and...
Water temperatures drive evolution of new species 7 Feb 19. Our latest seascape genomics study published in Proceedings B helps explaining why the oceans have an amazing diversity of life. Work done along the South African coast in collaboration with Peter Teske's team at University of Johannesburg. It is generating a lot of media attention, such as this nice article in IFLS. - Teske, PR, Sandoval-Castillo J, Golla TR, Emami-Khoyi A, Tine M, von der Heyden S, Beheregaray LB (2019) Thermal selection as a driver of marine ecological speciation....
Genomes of giant tortoises tell us about cancer and longevity! 11 Dec 18. Our comparative genomics study informs about evolutionary mechanisms linked to cancer resistance and longevity in giant tortoises. A fascinating study led by colleagues at Yale University and Universidad de Oviedo that has generated huge media attention worldwide, including an editorial in Nature and an article in the New York Times. The paper is open access. Quesada V, Freitas-Rodríguez S, Miller J, Pérez-Silva J, Jiang Z, Tapia W, Santiago-Fernández O, Campos-Iglesias D,...
Sea turtles like it local! Isolation by oceanic environment in the endangered... 9 May 18. Our recent paper in Proceedings B shows how seasonal ocean currents can influence the mating and connectivity in sea turtles. This extensive seascape genetics work (i.e. based on >600 turtles collected at 27 nesting beaches in five countries, from Mexico to Panama) has important implications for the conservation management of endangered Olive Ridley turtles in the eastern tropical Pacific (the main area of reproduction of the species in the world). Media release:...
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