The application of phylogenetic and genomic analyses to the study of animal biodiversity and evolution, with a specific focus on mammals, is the main goal of the Phylogeny and Phylogeography of Mammals lab. Using next-generation sequencing techniques and advanced bioinformatics tools, the population divergence and speciation process in different species complexes are analysed in order to obtain a better description of our biological diversity. These modern methodologies are also used to study kinship relationships and connectivity between populations in some species of great conservation importance, such as the Pyrenean desman.
Lab website: Castresana Lab
Principal Investigator
Current members
Ongoing projects
Publications
Balmori-de la Puente A, Ventura J, Miñarro M, Somoano A, Hey J, Castresana J. 2022. Divergence time estimation using ddRAD data and an isolation-with-migration model applied to water vole populations of Arvicola. Scientific Reports. 2022;12(1):4065. DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-07877-y
Escoda L, Castresana J. 2021. The genome of the Pyrenean desman and the effects of bottlenecks and inbreeding on the genomic landscape of an endangered species. Evolutionary Applications, 14(7):1898-1913. DOI:10.1111/eva.13249
Balmori-de la Puente A, Nores C, Román J, Fernández-González A, Aymerich P, Gosálbez J, Escoda L, Castresana J. 2020. Size increase without genetic divergence in the Eurasian water shrew Neomys fodiens. Scientific reports. 10(1):2298 doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58289-9
Escoda L, Fernández-González Á, Castresana J. 2019. Quantitative analysis of connectivity in populations of a semi-aquatic mammal using kinship categories and network assortativity. Molecular Ecology Resources, 19(2):310-326. DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.12967
Querejeta M, Castresana J. 2018. Evolutionary history of the endemic water shrew Neomys anomalus: Recurrent phylogeographic patterns in semi-aquatic mammals of the Iberian Peninsula. Ecology and Evolution, 8(20):10138-10146. DOI:10.1002/ece3.4487
Hawlitschek O, Fernández-González A, Balmori-de la Puente A, Castresana J. 2018. A pipeline for metabarcoding and diet analysis from fecal samples developed for a small semi-aquatic mammal. PLoS ONE, 13(8):1-19. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0201763
Querejeta M, Fernández-González A, Romero R, Castresana J. 2017. Postglacial dispersal patterns and mitochondrial genetic structure of the Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) in the northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula. Ecology and Evolution, 7(12):4486-4495. DOI:10.1002/ece3.3034
García K, Melero Y, Palazón S, Gosálbez J, Castresana J. 2017. Spatial mixing of mitochondrial lineages and greater genetic diversity in some invasive populations of the American mink (Neovison vison) compared to native populations. Biological Invasions, 19(9):2663-2673. DOI:10.1007/s10530-017-1475-4
Escoda L, González-Esteban J, Gómez A, Castresana J. 2017. Using relatedness networks to infer contemporary dispersal: Application to the endangered mammal Galemys pyrenaicus. Molecular Ecology, 26(13):3343-3357. DOI:10.1111/mec.14133
Querejeta M, González-Esteban J, Gómez A, Fernández-González A, Aymerich P, Gosálbez J, Escoda L, Igea J, Castresana J. 2016. Genomic diversity and geographical structure of the Pyrenean desman. Conservation Genetics, 17(6):1333-1344. DOI:10.1007/s10592-016-0865-y
Igea J, Aymerich P, Bannikova AA, Gosálbez J, Castresana J. 2015. Multilocus species trees and species delimitation in a temporal context: Application to the water shrews of the genus Neomys. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15(1):1-16. DOI:10.1186/s12862-015-0485-z
Rodriǵuez-Prieto A, Igea J, Castresana J. 2014. Development of rapidly evolving intron markers to estimate multilocus species trees of rodents. PLoS ONE, 9(5):1-10. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0096032
Igea J, Aymerich P, Fernández-González A, González-Esteban J, Gómez A, Alonso R, Gosálbez J, Castresana J. 2013. Phylogeography and postglacial expansion of the endangered semi-aquatic mammal Galemys pyrenaicus. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13(1):1-19. DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-13-115
Soria-Carrasco V, Castresana J. 2012. Diversification rates and the latitudinal gradient of diversity in mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1745):4148-4155. DOI:10.1098/rspb.2012.1393
Sánchez-Gracia A, Castresana J. 2012. Impact of deep coalescence on the reliability of species tree inference from different types of DNA markers in mammals. PLoS ONE, 7(1). DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0030239
Soria-Carrasco V, Castresana J. 2011. Patterns of mammalian diversification in recent evolutionary times: Global tendencies and methodological issues. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 24(12):2611-2623. DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02384.x