Borja Milá
Research Group
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales – MNCN-CSIC

Lab members

Borja Mila
Borja Milá, PI.
Javi Sala, MNCN. FPI Doctoral Grant, 2020-2024. Comparative genomics along an avian speciation continuum.
Bárbara Freitas, MNCN. FCT Doctoral Grant (Portugal), 2021-2025. Co-directed with Christophe Thébaud. The role of song in speciation processes in island birds.
Miguel Fernández Janoher, MNCN. FPI Doctoral Grant, 2023-2027. Local adaptation and speciation in island birds.
Loïs Rancilhac. Post-doctoral researcher. Evolutionary genomics of island birds.
Sergio García. Master’s student. CSIC-UIMP. Divergence and introgression in island birds.

Former members:

María Recuerda, MNCN. FPU Doctoral Grant, 2017-2022. Co-directed with Rafa Zardoya and Guillermo Blanco. Genomics of speciation in island birds. Currently a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, New York, USA
Enrique Sáez Laguna, Postdoctoral Fellow, Comparative genomics of recent avian radiations.
Guillermo Friis, MNCN, FPI Doctoral Grant, 2014-2018. Geographic variation in molecular markers, phenotypic traits and ecological variables in the radiation of North American juncos (Junco hyemalis). Defended in February 2018. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Kew Gardens, London, UK.
Maëva Gabrielli, Université de Toulouse, Co-directed with Christophe Thébaud. Speciation genomics of the gray white-eye (Zosterops borbonicus) on Reunion Island. Defended 7/2020. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toulouse, France.
Etienne Kornobis, Postdoctoral Researcher, Phylogenomics and transcriptomics of North American juncos (Junco hyemalis). Currently a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, Paris, France.
Boris Delahaie, Université de Toulouse, France. Hybrid zone dynamics along ecological gradients in the intra-island diversification of Zosterops borbonicus. PhD Thesis co-directed with Christophe Thébaud. Currently a permanent researcher at CIRAD, Montpellier, France.
Yann Bourgeois, Université de Toulouse, France. The evolution of plumage color in the intra-island diversification of Zosterops borbonicus. PhD Thesis, co-directed with Christophe Thébaud. Currently a permanent researcher at INRAE, Montpellier, France.

Former Master’s students:

  • Miguel Fernández Janoher, UIMP-CSIC, Spain (9/2023), Title: “Detecting selection across the genome of the common chaffinch”.
  • Brian Condori Villegas, UIMP-CSIC, Spain (6/2023), Title: “Divergencia adaptativa en la radiación del pinzón vulgar (Aves: Fringilla coelebs) en archipiélagos de Macaronesia”.
  • Martin Pérez Bono, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain (2022), Title: “Estimating dispersal on an island bird using genome-wide markers”.
  • Andrea Lirola Jiménez, UIMP-CSIC, Spain (2022), Title: “Activity patterns of the common chaffinch on the island of La Palma”.
  • Jorge García Calleja, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain (2021), Title: “Evidencia genómica de un nuevo cromosoma sexual en la chova piquirroja (Corvidae)”.
  • Mercè Palacios, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain (2021), Title: “Divergencia fenotípica del pinzón vulgar (Fringilla coelebs) en la isla oceánica de La Palma”.
  • Jorge García Calleja, Master Project 2021, Master en Bioinformática y Biología Computacional, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Co-directed with María Recuerda. «Methods for detecting positive selection in the genomes of insular birds».
  • Alejandro Alamán, Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo – CSIC, Spain (2020), Title: “Phylogeography and systematics of passerine species in remote mountain ranges of New Guinea”.
  • Pablo Salinas, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain (2018), co-directed with G. Blanco. Title: “Genetic diversity and conservation genetics of Iberian rooks Corvus frugilegus”.
  • Natalia Rojas, Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo – CSIC, Spain (2018), Title: “Population size and genetic diversity in two threatened Central American highland songbirds: estimates from field surveys and molecular data”
  • Ester Martínez Renau, Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo – CSIC, Spain (2018), Title: “Habitat use and population viability of the volcano junco Junco vulcani in Costa Rica”.
  • Alba Aparicio, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2016). Title: “Diferenciación genética y filogeografía del colibrí de Ana (Calypte anna) en isla Guadalupe, México”.
  • Laura Mármol, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain (2015). Title: “Song variation in the Setophaga coronata complex (Aves: Parulidae): implications for systematics and the evolution of song structure”.
  • Marcel Caminer, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2014). Title: “Diversidad genética y variabilidad fenotípica dentro del complejo de especies Dendropsophus leucophyllatus (Beireis, 1783) y Dendropsophus triangulum (Günther, 1869) (Anura: Hylidae)”.
  • Alvar Veiga, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2014). Title: Diferenciación genética, filogeografía y ecomorfología del camachuelo mexicano (Haemorrhous mexicanus amplus) en isla Guadalupe, México
  • Guillermo Friis, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain (2013). Title: “Multiple factors in the diversification of the songbird genus Junco: inferences from morphological, spectral and molecular data”.
  • Pau Aleixandre Mallol, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2011). Title: “Genetic and phenotypic divergence of the endangered Junco insularis on Guadalupe Island, México”.
  • Alberto Muñoz Saldaña, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2011). Title: “Distancias genéticas intraespecíficas en aves amazónicas: implicaciones para el uso de códigos de barras en la delimitación de especies y la inferencia de procesos evolutivos”.
  • Adán Oliveras de Ita, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México (co-directed with Ken Oyama, 2011). Title: “Genetic evidence for recent range fragmentation and severely restricted dispersal in the critically endangered Sierra Madre sparrow (Xenospiza bayleyi)”.