Liliana Cortés Ortiz

I investigate processes and mechanisms involved in the origin and maintenance of primate diversity and address the following questions. What caused the divergence of populations during the evolution of present-day primate species? What factors affect the distribution of genetic variation within populations? How and why do species maintain their identity in the face of gene flow? Does genomic exchange through hybridization benefit or threaten species persistence and why? These are fundamental questions in Evolutionary Biology and Biological Anthropology. To address these questions, I study the diversity of primates in the Americas (i.e., platyrrhines) and use my research to draw conclusions that are broadly applicable to understanding human and nonhuman primate evolution. My laboratory focuses on two main lines of research. The first is the study of how geography, ecology, and evolutionary history shape the distribution of primate diversity in space and time. This approach relies on phylogenetic, biogeographic, and population genetic analyses. The second is the study of genomic admixture in a current natural hybrid zone between two species of howler monkeys in Mexico. Here, we study which parts of the genome are associated with the delimitation and maintenance of species boundaries and the exchange of potentially adaptive genetic variation. Our studies of the hybrid zone also aim to determine how genetic admixture affects the phenotype of hybrid individuals, and in turn, how these phenotypes may play a role in shaping hybrid zone dynamics. My research is highly interdisciplinary with strong field and laboratory components and integrates genetics, social behavior, ecology, and morphology through collaborations with students and faculty from the University of Michigan and other institutions. Throughout my career I have also committed to primate conservation and emphasized the use of genetic data to inform conservation assessments of primate populations.

Research Areas: Non-human primate evolution, platyrrhine phylogenetics, population genetics, hybridization and admixture.