Valentina Ferretti (Cornell MS 2004; current PhD student) is studying the evolution of mating systems in the swallow genus Tachycineta. Her research focuses on how ecological variation can affect the mating strategies of males and females, and promote changes in reproductive morphology. She is using molecular techniques to carry out parentage analyses that will enable her to determine the genetic mating preferences of females throughout the Americas.
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Above: Vale checks a nest box. Her study makes use of Golondrinas de las Americas, a network of researchers working on North, Central and South American sites which each have at least 100 swallow nest boxes.
Left:
Vale holds a Tree Swallow in Ithaca, New York. Tree Swallows in North America have one of the highest levels of extra-pair paternity found in birds. |
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