Pica project

The genus Pica, a highly adaptable group of corvids, has independently colonized numerous urban environments across its range, spanning vastly different climates. This provides natural replicates for investigating the genomic, morphological, and behavioral basis of adaptation to both urbanization and climate.

Moreover, the phylogeographic structure of many Pica species, including the European Pica pica, has not yet been studied in detail.

This project aims to:

1. Characterize genomic and phenotypic variation across populations of the different Pica species throughout their range.

2. Identify genomic regions under selection associated with both urban living and climatic gradients.

3. Explore the phylogeography of Pica pica in Europe and of the genus Pica globally.

4. Assess whether convergent genomic, morphological, and behavioral patterns have emerged in response to independent environmental transitions.

We will integrate field-collected and museum samples representing multiple populations across the entire Pica range. Our aim is to generate data for population genomic analyses by means of low-coverage genome resequencing. 

This research is funded by my project: Citizen magpie: morphological, behavioral, and genomic responses to urban environments. Entity. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. PI: Joan Garcia-Porta. Funding entity: Comunidad de Madrid (Spain). Code: 2022-T1/AMB-24171. Start-End date: 2023 – 2028. Total amount: 200,000 €.