Andrea J. Roth-Monzón

• PhD
• Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Connecticut

Our understanding of the vertebrate immune system is dominated by a few model organisms such as mice. This use of a few model systems is reasonable if major features of the immune systems evolve slowly and are conserved across most vertebrates, but may be problematic if there is substantial macroevolutionary change in immune responses. Here, we pre...

Rates of evolutionary change vary by gene. While some broad gene categories are highly conserved with little divergence over time, others undergo continuous selection pressure and are highly divergent. Here, we combine single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) with evolutionary genomics to understand whether certain cell types exhibit faster evolutiona...

Indirect genetic effects (IGEs) exist when there is heritable variation in one organism's ability to alter a second organism's traits. For example, parasites have antigens that can induce a host immune response, as well as disparate strategies to evade or suppress host immunity; among-parasite genetic variation in these antigens generates among-hos...

Senticolis triaspis is a widespread polytypic colubrid snake that ranges from the southwestern United States southward along the Pacific Coast and part of the Atlantic Coast of Mexico to Costa Rica. Three subspecies have been described based on differences in color pattern and scutellation: S. t. intermedia, S. t. mutabilis, and S. t. triaspis. The...

The complex relationship between ecosystem function and soil food web structure is governed by species interactions, many of which remain unmapped. Phagotrophic protists structure soil food webs by grazing the microbiome, yet their involvement in intraguild competition, susceptibility to predator diversity, and grazing preferences are only vaguely...

Life-history traits are directly linked to fitness, and therefore, can be highly adaptive. Livebearers have been used as models for understanding the evolution of life histories due to their wide diversity in these traits. Several different selective pressures, including population density, predation, and resource levels, can shape life-history tra...

Competition has long been recognized as a central force in shaping evolution, particularly through character displacement. Yet research on character displacement is biased, as it has focused almost exclusively on pairs of interacting species while ignoring multispecies interactions. Communities are seldom so simple that only pairs of species intera...

We reported the second record for Chihuahua and first record for the municipality of Urique of Imantodes gemmistratus.

Current global changes are putting both biodiversity and the processes that depend on it at risk. This is especially true for semi-arid regions and the flagship groups that inhabit them, such as amphibians and reptiles. Semi-arid regions are often thought to have lower biodiversity and thus have been overlooked, resulting in the underestimation of...

Species list with MZFC accession numbers for each individual collected

In this study, we explored the possibility that differences in pigmentation patterns among populations of the fish Poeciliopsis baenschi were associated with the presence or absence of the closely related species P. turneri. If reproductive character displacement is responsible, spotting patterns in these two species should diverge in sympatry, but...

Photographs of a typical male from each of the three groups used in this study from both left and right side. (A) allopatric P. baenschi (B) sympatric P. baenschi, and (C) P. turneri. (TIF)

Boxplot of both number of spots and total area of spots for sympatric P. baenschi sampled localities. (TIF)

The distribution of Mesoscincus altamirani in the state of Guerrero is extended significantly eastward of the previous known locality, besides expanding the elevation range and the maximum size.

The distribution of Mesoscincus altamirani in the state of Guerrero is extended significantly eastward of the previous known locality, besides expanding the elevation range and the maximum size.

Lampropeltis ruthveni was recorded for the first time from four localities in the mexican state of Hidalgo.