Who we study:
Red-footed booby
Sula sula, pantropical distribution. This is a fairly pelagic species. They听feed听mostly on flying fish and some squid, and are the only species of booby that nests in trees.听They have bright red feet, teal facial skin that melds into a red and periwinkle bill, and exist in two plumage morphs: brown and white.
Brown booby
Sula leucogaster, pantropical distribution. This species feeds on both flying fish and squid, and builds nests on the ground with broken shells, rocks, and, unfortunately plastic听and other junk. They have yellow feet, and the color of their facial skin through their beak blends from a teal green to a yellow, with considerable variation. They also exist in two plumage morphs: the morph displayed here is typical of both sexes globally, but males in the eastern Pacific have light gray to white heads.
photo by Danilo da Castro - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
Masked booby
Sula dactylatra, pantropical distribution. Eats mostly flying fish and squid, and takes the longest foraging trips of any booby, excluding the Nazca booby. Has deep blue-black facial skin, a pale yellow bill, and variable foot coloration, from orange to grey to khaki to sometimes a grey/purplish color.
Photo by Stefan Hunt - Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY 3.0,
Nazca booby
Sula granti, Galapagos endemic. Easily confused with the masked booby, from which it was only recently taxonomically split due to evidence of mitochondrial divergence (Friesen et al. 2002) and morphological and ecological differences (Pitman and Jehl 1998). The most distinctive feature is听its orange bill.
Peruvian booby
Sula variegata is an endemic species of the Humboldt Current and听ranges from islands off the northern coast of Peru down to central Chile. Eats mostly Peruvian anchovies. Their feet are a faded grey periwinkle, their facial skin black, their bills a faded cold grey, their eyes a deep red, and their plumage speckled brown on the wings, back, and tail, and white elsewhere.
Blue-footed booby
Sula nebouxii, ranges from the Gulf of California down to islands off the northern coast of Peru. Eats mostly anchovies, sardines, and some squid and flying fish. Their bright blue feet have been shown to vary in color within the same individual, and that color variation affects the investment of their mates in caretaking for their chicks.
What we study:
We are analyzing several whole genome sequences of each species. We intend to confirm the hypothesized phylogenetic relationships, identify regions of the genome that are under positive selection, as well as highly differentiated regions, and explore the gene ontology terms associated with these regions. We will also be looking for patterns of incomplete lineage sorting between these species, several of which are known to hybridize. From this, we hope to hypothesize as to which genes are of evolutionary importance to some of these species, and to design field and lab experiments to further explore these differences.
This represents an expansion of Scott鈥檚 dissertation work studying population genetics and hybridization between blue-footed and Peruvian boobies.
Publications
2013
Taylor SA,听Morris-Pocock JA, Tershy BR, Castillo-Guerrero JA, Friesen, VL.听2013. Genetic evidence for hybridization between brown (Sula leucogaster) and blue-footed (S. nebouxii) boobies in the Gulf of Mexico.听Marine Ornithology听41: 113 - 119.听 PDF
Taylor SA,听Anderson DJ, Friesen VL.听2013. Evidence for asymmetrical gene flow of nuclear loci, but not mitochondrial loci, between a seabird species pair.听笔尝辞厂听翱狈贰. 8(4): e62256.听 PDF
2012
Taylor SA,听Friesen VL.听2012.听Evidence for strong assortative mating, limited gene flow, and strong differentiation across the blue-footed / Peruvian booby hybrid zone in northern Peru.听Journal of Avian Biology听43: 311-324.听 PDF
Taylor SA, Friesen V L.听2012. Potential uses of molecular genetics for understanding seabird evolution, ecology and conservation.听Marine Ecology Progress Series. 451: 285-304.听 PDF
2011
Taylor SA, Zavalaga CB, Luna 鈥揓orquera G, Simeone A, Anderson DJ, Friesen VL.听2011.听Panmixia and high genetic diversity in a Humboldt Current endemic, the Peruvian Booby (Sula variegata).听Journal of Ornithology. 152: 623-630.听 PDF
Taylor SA,听*Maclagan L, Anderson DJ, Friesen VL.听2011.听Could specialization to cold water upwelling systems influence genetic diversity and gene flow in marine organisms? A case study using the blue-footed booby,听Sula nebouxii.听Journal of Biogeography. 38: 883-893.听*Undergraduate honors student听 PDF
2010
Taylor SA, Zavalaga CB, Friesen VL.听2010.听Hybridization between blue-footed (Sula nebouxii) and Peruvian (S. variegata) boobies in northern Peru.听Waterbirds听33: 251-257.听 PDF
Zavalaga CB, Halls JN, Mori GP,听Taylor SA,听Dell鈥橭mo G.听2010.听At-sea movement patterns and diving behavior of Peruvian boobies听Sula variegata听: sexual segregation by foraging habitat in a rich marine environment?听Marine Ornithological Progress Series听404: 259-274.听 PDF
Morris-Pocock JA,听Taylor SA,听Birt T, Friesen VL.听2010.听Concerted evolution of duplicated mitochondrial control regions in three related seabird species.听BMC Evolutionary Biology听10: 14.听 PDF
Morris-Pocock J A,听Taylor SA, Sun Z, Friesen VL.听2010.听Isolation and characterization of 15 microsatellite loci for red-footed (Sula sula), blue-footed (S. nebouxii) and Peruvian (S. variegata) boobies.听Molecular Ecology Resources听10: 404-408.听
Taylor SA,听Morris-Pocock JA, Sun Z, Friesen VL.听2010.听Isolation and characterization of 10 microsatellite loci in blue-footed (Sula nebouxii) and Peruvian boobies (Sula variegata).听Journal of Ornithology听151: 525-528.听 PDF
2009
Zavalaga CB,听Taylor SA, Dell鈥橭mo G, Anderson DJ, Friesen VL.听2009.听Male/female classification of the Peruvian booby.听Wilson Journal of Ornithology听121: 739-744.听 PDF