The Dramatic Evolution of Birds on Madagascar

Islands are natural laboratories to study how species evolve in novel environments. Colonization of new geographic areas can expose lineages to ecological opportunities and unique selective regimes, which sometimes leads to spectacular radiations. In Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot with an exceptional diversity of endemics, several lineages of birds have undergone this experiment with varying results.

Of the 50+ lineages that have colonized the island, only half have subsequently diversified within the island. Dr Sushma Reddy uses Madagascar as a model system in her work, to study comparable endemic birds on a single landmass and investigate the influence of timing, space, and evolution on diversification patterns.

Dr Sushma Reddy is the Breckenridge Chair of Ornithology at the Bell Museum of Natural History and Associate Professor in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota. Her research investigates biological diversity by using genetic, phenotypic, and geographic data to study the evolutionary history of birds

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