EXEB meeting on Tuesday April 15: Visit by Wiebke Feindt and talk about comparative transcriptomics in Neotropical damselflies

Posted by Erik Svensson

 For next week's EXEB-meeting, I am pleased to welcome Wiebke Feindt from ITZ Division of Ecology & Evolution in Hannover (Germany). Wiebke is currently doing a PhD on evolution, conservation genetics and comparative transcriptomics of Neotropical odonates. She is particularly interested in the charismatic genus Megaloprepus, which contains the largest damselflies in the world and which are often called "Helicopter damselflies". Below is the title of Wiebke's talk and a brief Abstract.

Odonate speciation in the Neotropics: New insights into the genus Megaloprepus

In an ever-changing world flying insects play a significant role for studying speciation. As the world’s largest living odonate species, Megaloprepus caerulatus is an excellent model organism to investigate this crucial point of evolution. Despite its niche conservatism, a strong genetic differentiation and a morphometric separation into four distinct clusters was detected. On this basis, ongoing comparative transcriptomics may further contribute to elucidate the complex evolutionary processes and causal interplays of speciation.

Time: Tuesday, March 15, 2016, at 10.00

Locale: "Argumentet", 2nd floor, Ecology Building