Hybridization and Transgressive Evolution Generate Diversity in an Adaptive Radiation of Anolis Lizards

Interspecific hybridization may contribute to the evolution of biodiversity by increasing genetic variation or providing novel combinations of alleles that result in lineages moving toward new adaptive peaks. This project tested for signatures of hybridization among the Anolis lizards of Puerto Rico. We collected whole genome sequences from all ten species of Puerto Rican Anolis lizards, calculated statistics to test for introgression across the radiation, and used multispecies network coalescent methods to reconstruct phylogenetic networks that allow for introgression. We then incorporated morphological data to test for signals of transgressive evolution.