Ammon Corl

Post-Doctoral Researcher

My fields of study include evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, ornithology, herpetology, and population genetics. I am particularly interested in questions pertaining to speciation, sexual selection, the genetics of adaptation, and the maintenance and loss of polymorphism. I am currently working on two major projects in the Bowie lab. First, I am investigating convergent evolution in hummingbirds and sunbirds, which are two major radiations of nectarivorous birds. In these two bird groups, I am seeking to understand the evolutionary history of adaptation in genes and phenotypes related to nectarivory and in other genes related to their ecology such as genes involved in high-altitude adaptation. Second, I am investigating the factors that influence avian microbiomes, such as behavioral differences (e.g. migratory vs. resident), phylogenetic relatedness, and shared environments. This work is being done in collaboration with ornithologists in Israel. My aim for both of these projects is to better understand the behavioral ecology of species using large-scale genetic data. For more information about my research, please see: http://bio.research.ucsc.edu/~barrylab/Ammon/