The Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES) offers an NWO-funded PhD position for a project on the role of phenotypic plasticity in speciation, using African cichlid fish as a model system.
Phenotypic plasticity is a key determinant of organismal performance, allowing rapid adjustment to environmental variation. In this project, we aim to investigate plasticity’s role in species divergence. On the one hand, plasticity may promote evolutionary differentiation by facilitating range expansion. On the other hand, plastic responses will weaken selection for genetic change, hampering adaptive evolution. We study the role of visual plasticity in the evolution of cichlid fish species diversity. Variation in colour vision, among individuals, populations and species, is determined by both genetic factors and phenotypic plasticity. Since visually mediated behaviours influence both mating behaviour and ecological performance in cichlids, plasticity in colour vision could be important in divergent evolution. The PhD student will conduct experiments and analyses addressing the consequences of visual plasticity for both 1) macro-evolutionary processes and 2) individual behaviour and fitness. Approaches include behavioural experiments, molecular analysis of visual pigments (sequencing, qPCR, HPLC) and phylogenetic comparative analyses. For more information and online application, please visit https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview? details=00347-02S00065CP
