Yeaman, SamReeve, James2019-11-042019-11-042019-10-31Reeve, J. (2019). The genetic basis of convergent evolution among three species of fishes (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.http://hdl.handle.net/1880/111199The genetic basis of convergent evolution can be identified by comparing changes in allele frequencies across multiple species under the same environmental conditions. Patterns of elevated genetic divergence among populations or reduced genetic diversity within populations that are shared among species are often inferred as the product of convergent local adaptation. However, there are several other evolutionary processes that can produce similar patterns, making it hard to infer if these genetic patterns are caused by local adaptation. This study attempted to identify genetic candidates for convergent evolution by comparing pooled whole-genome data among three species of fish. Due to unexpectedly high genetic divergence among populations the ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) had to be removed from the analysis. Meaning the genetic patterns of local adaptation could only be compared between the two remaining species of fish. No candidates of convergent evolution were identified between the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and tubesnout (Aulorhynchus flavidus), indicating that either these species are responding to the same environmental pressure with different genetic changes, or that some unidentified aspect of the environment is leading to divergent patterns of local adaptation. Overall, this study demonstrates some of the potential problems with using genome scans that can make it difficult to identify the genetic basis of convergent evolution.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Convergent EvolutionPopulation GeneticsGenomicsBiologyBioinformaticsGeneticsmaster thesishttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37232