Category Archives: Uncategorized

Barker, F. K., K. J. Burns, J. Klicka, S. M. Lanyon, and I. J. Lovette. 2013. Going to extremes: Contrasting rates of diversification in a recent radiation of New World passerine birds. Systematic Biology 62: 298-320. link to article On … Continue reading →

Shultz, A. J. and K. J. Burns. 2013. Plumage evolution in relation to light environment in a novel clade of Neotropical tanagers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66: 112-125. We recently published a paper in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution on plumage … Continue reading →

Mallarino, R., O. Campàs, J. A. Fritz, K. J. Burns, O. G. Weeks, M. P. Brenner, and A. Abzhanov. 2012. Closely related bird species demonstrate flexibility between beak morphology and underlying developmental programs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences … Continue reading →

The Burns lab welcomes new MS student Shannon Walsh this semester. She received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Minnesota. Shannon spent two field seasons working with Burrowing Owls for the USFWS in Oregon and Washington. At the … Continue reading →

Luke spent part of spring/summer mist netting birds and also sampling Bell’s Vireos for his project on conservation genetics of Least Bell’s Vireo. This year, his efforts concentrated on the Arizona/California border which is a putative contact zone between Least … Continue reading →

Nick Mason and Kevin Burns recently attended the 5th North American Ornithological Congress in Vancouver. Nick presented his work on evolutionary correlates among vocalizations, habitat, and plumage color in tanagers. This work represents a collaboration between Nick, Kevin, and former … Continue reading →

Congratulations to Pascal Title who recently defended his MS thesis on niche evolution in tanagers. Pascal’s thesis adds another dimension to our ongoing studies of tanager diversification. Pascal used environmental data in combination with georeferenced occurrence data to see if … Continue reading →

Burns, K. J. and A. J. Shultz. 2012. Widespread cryptic dichromatism and ultraviolet reflectance in the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds: implications of accounting for avian vision in the study of plumage evolution. The Auk 129: 211-221. pdf We just … Continue reading →

Congratulations to Nick Mason, who successfully defended his MS thesis on the evolution of song within tanagers. His research compliments other research in the lab on the evolution of plumage, morphology, and ecological niche in tanagers. Specifically, he looked at … Continue reading →

Burns lab graduate student Luke Klicka recently received three grants to help fund his project investigating the phylogeography of the Bell’s Vireo. The Bell’s Vireo is a widespread North American species consisting of four subspecies. However, no genetic data has … Continue reading →