Fernando Seixas

During my last year as an undergraduate student I have developed an internship project on the history of colonization of Majorca Island by hares (genus Lepus) and rabbits (genus Oryctolagus).
Currently, I am working on my master thesis during which I will investigate the evolutionary history of three North American hare species – L. americanus, L. californicus and L. townsendii. Hares are promising models for the study of speciation since Lepus species have diverged recently and interspecific gene flow has often been reported in the genus. However, and despite the fact that North America is thought to be the area of origin of the genus, from where it radiated to the rest of the world, little is known on the evolutionary history of species from this region.