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Population genetics

Museum specimens uncover the past, present and future

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Museum collections are a source for monitoring population changes at an evolutionary timescale. A comparative genomic study across time and space of populations of willow flycatchers (Empidonax traillii) reveals evidence of genetic responses to climate change through adaptation in genes associated with changing climatic conditions in southwestern North America.

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Fig. 1: Willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) specimens stored at the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

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Correspondence to Valentina Gómez-Bahamón.

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Gómez-Bahamón, V. Museum specimens uncover the past, present and future. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 608–609 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01694-5

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