{"entity": "researcher", "timestamp": "2026-09-23T14:46:11.609Z", "family": "Th\u00f6rn", "given": "Filip", "initials": "F", "orcid": "0000-0002-8173-7877", "affiliations": ["Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.", "Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.", "Museum f\u00fcr Naturkunde-Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany."], "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/3117c8710fe24703bae11e39a68744d6.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/3117c8710fe24703bae11e39a68744d6"}}, "publications": [{"entity": "publication", "iuid": "4dc2cb7352d041dcb5f8df24457e3c18", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/4dc2cb7352d041dcb5f8df24457e3c18.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/4dc2cb7352d041dcb5f8df24457e3c18"}}, "title": "Ephemeral Speciation in a New Guinean Honeyeater Complex (Aves: Melidectes).", "authors": [{"family": "M\u00fcller", "given": "Ingo A", "initials": "IA", "orcid": "0000-0002-8812-9313", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/11e4184046d244f89bfb028be7058bac.json"}}, {"family": "Th\u00f6rn", "given": "Filip", "initials": "F", "orcid": "0000-0002-8173-7877", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/3117c8710fe24703bae11e39a68744d6.json"}}, {"family": "Rajan", "given": "Samyuktha", "initials": "S"}, {"family": "Olsen", "given": "Remi-Andr\u00e9", "initials": "RA"}, {"family": "Ericson", "given": "Per G P", "initials": "PGP", "orcid": "0000-0002-4143-9998", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/9c3585c6349947258d5650330b76b065.json"}}, {"family": "Peona", "given": "Valentina", "initials": "V"}, {"family": "Smith", "given": "Brian Tilston", "initials": "BT"}, {"family": "Maiah", "given": "Gibson", "initials": "G"}, {"family": "Koane", "given": "Bonny", "initials": "B"}, {"family": "Iova", "given": "Bulisa", "initials": "B"}, {"family": "Blom", "given": "Mozes P K", "initials": "MPK", "orcid": "0000-0002-6304-9827", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/e9724c5da52749409138c4c647cb7f83.json"}}, {"family": "Irestedt", "given": "Martin", "initials": "M", "orcid": "0000-0003-1680-6861", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/8127e476558945a5b511757c8c22755b.json"}}, {"family": "J\u00f8nsson", "given": "Knud A", "initials": "KA", "orcid": "0000-0002-1875-9504", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/03ce5c1eb142421fad86f21ef5156069.json"}}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2025-11-00", "journal": {"title": "Mol. Ecol.", "issn": "1365-294X", "volume": "34", "issue": "21", "pages": "e17760", "issn-l": "0962-1083"}, "abstract": "Speciation is a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology, and understanding the mechanisms driving speciation remains the foremost research topic within this field. Hybridisation is often involved in speciation and can influence its rates, potentially accelerating, decelerating or even reversing the process. This study investigates the evolutionary history of the New Guinean bird genus Melidectes, consisting of six species that inhabit various montane regions at different elevations. While most Melidectes species have allopatric distributions, two species overlap in the central mountain range and hybridise. However, plumage differences and elevational adaptations are assumed to maintain the species' boundaries. Utilising specimens from natural history collections and comprehensive genomic analyses, including a de novo genome assembly, we characterise allopatric speciation patterns within the genus and highlight how future speciation could potentially be driven by climate change. Contrary to previous hypotheses, our findings suggest that in the two distributionally overlapping species, phenotypic differences do not prevent gene flow. We find limited acoustic differentiation and extensive admixture across most of their distributions. Divergence and admixture levels conform poorly to the current taxonomy and follow a geographical pattern in which the most isolated populations at the ends of the distributions are most divergent and show least admixture. However, in contrast, their mitochondrial genomes do group in accordance with species identity, namely, into two deeply divergent lineages. We propose that this system demonstrates the ephemeral nature of speciation, in which two incipient species have started mixing extensively as they came into secondary contact, resulting in nearly complete fusion into a single lineage.", "doi": "10.1111/mec.17760", "pmid": "40219608", "labels": [], "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC12573753"}], "notes": [], "created": "2026-09-23T13:37:11.389Z", "modified": "2026-09-23T13:37:11.508Z"}, {"entity": "publication", "iuid": "c420a32c381d449ab65fde983d407fe5", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/c420a32c381d449ab65fde983d407fe5.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/c420a32c381d449ab65fde983d407fe5"}}, "title": "Reticulate and Hybrid Speciation is Promoted by Environmental Instability in an Indo-Pacific Species Complex of Whistlers (Aves: Pachycephala).", "authors": [{"family": "Irestedt", "given": "Martin", "initials": "M", "orcid": "0000-0003-1680-6861", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/8127e476558945a5b511757c8c22755b.json"}}, {"family": "M\u00fcller", "given": "Ingo A", "initials": "IA", "orcid": "0000-0002-8812-9313", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/11e4184046d244f89bfb028be7058bac.json"}}, {"family": "Th\u00f6rn", "given": "Filip", "initials": "F", "orcid": "0000-0002-8173-7877", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/3117c8710fe24703bae11e39a68744d6.json"}}, {"family": "Joseph", "given": "Leo", "initials": "L", "orcid": "0000-0001-7564-1978", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/41af7ce3fd7e4f19b4f9e1654bf6ff67.json"}}, {"family": "Nylander", "given": "Johan A A", "initials": "JAA"}, {"family": "Guinet", "given": "Benjamin", "initials": "B"}, {"family": "van der Valk", "given": "Tom", "initials": "T"}, {"family": "J\u00f8nsson", "given": "Knud Andreas", "initials": "KA", "orcid": "0000-0002-1875-9504", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/03ce5c1eb142421fad86f21ef5156069.json"}}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2025-11-00", "journal": {"title": "Mol. Ecol.", "issn": "1365-294X", "volume": "34", "issue": "21", "pages": "e70018", "issn-l": "0962-1083"}, "abstract": "Genomic studies have revealed introgressive hybridisation as a common phenomenon across the tree of life, particularly among young radiations. As incipient speciation tends to be induced by vicariance events, it is assumed that introgressive hybridisation is more frequent in young radiations in which allopatrically distributed species have a high probability of coming into secondary contact. In this study, we use whole genomic data to investigate spatio-temporal introgression patterns in a songbird radiation that has colonised a highly dynamic island region in the Indo-Pacific. Some taxa within this radiation have colonised remote oceanic islands whereas others occur on landmasses and islands in the Sahul region that were periodically connected during Pleistocene periods of lower sea levels. Our results show that introgressive hybridisation has been pervasive within this young radiation, despite prominent plumage differences between taxa. Geographical proximity has been an important factor for hybridisation and we further find that species occupying islands in the environmentally unstable Sahul region exhibit particularly high signatures of introgressive hybridisation. Yet, one species appears to have been shielded from hybridisation, perhaps due to specific ecological specialisations. Finally, we identify a hybrid species on an island where two oceanic radiations meet. Our results also caution against relying solely on analyses that only detect asymmetric introgression when examining systems with complex introgression histories. Collectively, our results support a growing body of literature that suggests that reticulate speciation is more common than previously thought. This has implications for our understanding of species formation and their persistence through time.", "doi": "10.1111/mec.70018", "pmid": "40650490", "labels": {"DDLS Fellow": "", "Tom van der Valk": ""}, "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC12573736"}], "notes": [], "created": "2026-09-23T13:19:05.878Z", "modified": "2026-09-23T13:19:06.019Z"}, {"entity": "publication", "iuid": "82843fb2ab154c96a7f62c5e8c1dc9ba", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/82843fb2ab154c96a7f62c5e8c1dc9ba.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/82843fb2ab154c96a7f62c5e8c1dc9ba"}}, "title": "Contemporary intergeneric hybridization and backcrossing among birds-of-paradise.", "authors": [{"family": "Th\u00f6rn", "given": "Filip", "initials": "F", "orcid": "0000-0002-8173-7877", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/3117c8710fe24703bae11e39a68744d6.json"}}, {"family": "Soares", "given": "Andr\u00e9 E R", "initials": "AER"}, {"family": "M\u00fcller", "given": "Ingo A", "initials": "IA"}, {"family": "P\u00e4ckert", "given": "Martin", "initials": "M", "orcid": "0000-0001-5045-0139", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/70258482219e499d86e8b6f74747fbf4.json"}}, {"family": "Frahnert", "given": "Sylke", "initials": "S"}, {"family": "van Grouw", "given": "Hein", "initials": "H"}, {"family": "Kamminga", "given": "Pepijn", "initials": "P"}, {"family": "Peona", "given": "Valentina", "initials": "V", "orcid": "0000-0001-5119-1837", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/12d645d316a64a54ad02fb915cf9b2d6.json"}}, {"family": "Suh", "given": "Alexander", "initials": "A"}, {"family": "Blom", "given": "Mozes P K", "initials": "MPK"}, {"family": "Irestedt", "given": "Martin", "initials": "M"}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2024-09-00", "journal": {"title": "Evol Lett", "issn": "2056-3744", "volume": "8", "issue": "5", "pages": "680-694", "issn-l": null}, "abstract": "Despite large differences in morphology, behavior and lek-mating strategies the birds-of-paradise are known to hybridize occasionally, even across different genera. Many of these bird-of-paradise hybrids were originally described as distinct species based on large morphological differences when compared to recognized species. Nowadays, these specimens are generally recognized as hybrids based on morphological assessments. Having fascinated naturalists for centuries, hybrid specimens of birds-of-paradise have been collected and the specimens kept in Natural History Collections. In the present study, we utilize this remarkable resource in a museomics framework and evaluate the genomic composition of most described intergeneric hybrids and some intrageneric hybrids. We show that the majority of investigated specimens are first-generation hybrids and that the parental species, in most cases, are in line with prior morphological assessments. We also identify two specimens that are the result of introgressive hybridization between different genera. Additionally, two specimens exhibit hybrid morphologies but have no identifiable signals of hybridization, which may indicate that minor levels of introgression can have large morphological effects. Our findings provide direct evidence of contemporary introgressive hybridization taking place between genera of birds-of-paradise in nature, despite markedly different morphologies and lek-mating behaviors.", "doi": "10.1093/evlett/qrae023", "pmid": "39328285", "labels": [], "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC11424083"}, {"db": "pii", "key": "qrae023"}], "notes": [], "created": "2026-09-23T12:24:40.190Z", "modified": "2026-09-23T12:24:40.295Z"}]}