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Preprints

Johnson, B. E., Adkins, C., Black, T. N., Dye, M.*, Mendoza, I., and Moran, R. L. In review. Environmental stress amplifies competitive asymmetry and drives divergent hybrid zone outcomes. (preprint)

Kopack, C. J., Moran, R. L., Broder, E. D., McDonald, C., Fetherman, E. R., Hoke, K. L., & Angeloni, L. M. In review. The effect of environmental enrichment on whole-brain gene expression in an imperiled fish. (preprint)

Moran, R. L. Resetting the rules: Sex chromosome turnover as an escape hatch for mitonuclear conflict. (preprint)

Radcliffe, W. V., Dye, M., Kim, D., Muralidhar, P., and Moran, R. L. In review. Sex chromosome turnover and mitonuclear conflict drive reproductive isolation. (preprint)

Radcliffe, W. V., Kim, D., Bryant, K., Riggins, C. L., Heard, T., McGarrity, M., Daugherty, D. J., Perkin, J. S., and Moran, R. L. In review. The genomic complexity of invasion: cryptic lineages, founder effects, and polygenic sex determination in armored catfish. (preprint)

Richards, E. J., Moran, R. L., Wiese, J., O’Gorman, M., Hutton, P., Rastogi, A., North, O. W., Roback, E. Y., Kowalko, J. E., Rohner, N., Keene, A. C., and McGaugh, S. E. In review. Cave evolution on repeat: reuse of the same genomic regions across lineages but not across traits.

Kellermeyer, R., Espinasa, L., Seidel, C., Redwine, W. B., Moran, R. L., Bertho, S., Ornelas García, C. P., Alegre, D., Medley, J. K., Weaver, K., Unruh, J., Troutwine, B., Wang, Y., Collins, E., Rutkowski, J., McGaugh, S., and Rohner, N. In review. Long-term hybridization in a karst window reveals the genetic basis of eye loss in cavefish. (preprint)

2025

Roback, E.Y., Ferrufino, E., Moran, R.L., Shennard, D., Mulliniks, C., Gallop, J., Weagley, J., Miller, J., Fily, Y., Ornelas-García, C.P., Rohner, N., Kowalko, J. E., and McGaugh, S. E. 2025. Population genomics of premature termination codons in cavefish with substantial trait loss. Molecular biology and evolution, 42(2), p.msaf012. doi:10.1093/molbev/msaf012 (link)

2024

Lloyd, E., Xia, F., Moore, K., Zertuche, C., Rastogi, A., Kozol, R., Kenzior, O., Warren, W., Appelbaum, L., Moran, R. L., Zhao, C., Duboue, E., Rohner, N., Keene, A. C. 2024. Elevated DNA Damage without signs of aging in the short-sleeping Mexican Cavefish. eLife. doi:10.7554/eLife.99191.1.sa3 (link) (preprint)

Manning, A. E., Grunwald, H., Moran, R. L., Rodriguez-Morales, R., Powers, A. K., McGaugh, S., & Kowalko, J. E. 2024. Defining the unseen: Population-specific markers for Astyanax mexicanus blind cavefish. Zebrafish. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2023.0105

Black, T. B., Rastogi, A., Saegert, A., Dib, J., & Moran, R. L. 2024. Male recognition of conspecific female olfactory cues in a diverse clade of freshwater fishes. Journal of Fish Biology. 104(3), 883-886.doi:10.1111/jfb.15600 (link)

2023

Garduño-Sánchez, M., Hernandez-Lozano, J., Moran, R. L., Miranda-Gamboa, R., Gross, J. B., Rohner, N., Elliott, W. R., Miller, J., Lozano-Vilano, L., McGaugh, S. E., and Ornelas-García, C. P. 2023. Phylogeographic relationships and morphological evolution between cave and surface Astyanax mexicanus populations (De Fillipi 1853) (Actinopterygii, Characidae). Molecular Ecology. 32(20), 5626-5644. doi:10.1111/mec.17128 (link)  (preprint)

Powers, A. K., Hyacinthe, C.,  Riddle, M.,  Kim, Y. K.,  Amaismeier, A., Thiel, K., Martineau, B., Ferrante, E., Moran, R. L., McGaugh, S. E., Boggs, T., Gross, J. B., Tabin, C. J. 2023. Genetic mapping of craniofacial traits in the Mexican tetra reveals loci associated with bite differences between cave and surface fish. BMC Ecology and Evolution.  23 (1), 41. doi: 10.1186/s12862-023-02149-3 (link) (preprint)

Moran, R. L., Richards, E. J., Ornelas-García, P., Gross, J.B., Donny, A., Wiese, J., Keene, A. C., Kowalko, J. E., Rohner, N., & McGaugh, S. E. 2023. Selection-driven trait loss in independently evolved cavefish populations. Nature Communications. 14, 2557. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37909-8 (link) (preprint)

2022

Moran, R. L., Jaggard, J. B., Roback, E. Y., Kenzior, A., Rohner, N., Kowalko, J. E., Ornelas-García, P., McGaugh, S. E., Keene, A. C. 2022. Hybridization underlies localized trait evolution in cavefish. iScience. 25(2):103778. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.103778 (link) (preprint)

2021

O’Gorman, M., Thakur, S., Imrie, G., Moran, R. L., Rohner, N., McGaugh, S. E., Keene, A. C., and Kowalko, J. E. 2021. Pleiotropic function of the albinism gene oca2 reveals co-evolution of albinism and sleep loss. Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.077 (link) (preprint)

Chang, C.-H., Catchen, J. M., Moran, R. L., Rivera-Colon, A., Wang, Y.-C. and Fuller, R. C. 2021. Sequence analysis and ontogenetic expression patterns of cone opsin genes in the bluefin killifish (Lucania goodei). Journal of Heredity. esab2021. doi:10.1093/jhered/esab017 (link)

Warren, W. C., Aspiras, A., Boggs, T. E., Borowsky, R., Carlson, B. M., Damen, F., Ferrufino, E., Gross, J.B., Hillier, L., Hu, Z., J., Keene, A. C., Kowalko, J. E., Tomlinson, C., Kremitzki, M. Lemieux, M. E., Lindsay-Graves, T., McGaugh, S. E., Miller, J. T., Mommersteeg, M., Moran, R. L., Peu, R., Rice, E., Riddle, M., Sifuentes-Romero, I., Stanhope, B. A., Tabin, C., Thakur, S., Yoshiyuki, Y., Rohner, N. 2021. A chromosome level genome of Astyanax mexicanus surface fish for comparing population-specific genetic differences contributing to trait evolution. Nature Communications. 12, 1447. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21733-z NCOMMS-20-25279 (link)

Reid, B. N., Moran, R. L., Kopak, C. J., Fitzpatrick, S. W. 2021. Rapture-ready darters: sequence capture outperforms whole-genome data regardless of reference genome in Etheostoma. Molecular Ecology Resources. doi:10.1111/1755-0998.13275 (link) (preprint)

2020

Moran, R. L., Catchen, J. M., and Fuller, R. C. 2020. Genomic resources for darters (Percidae: Etheostominae) provide insight into postzygotic barriers implicated in speciation. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 37(3):711-729. doi:10.1093/molbev/msz260 (link) (pdf)
Covered by Illinois News Bureau.

2018

Moran, R. L., Zhou, M., Catchen, J. M., and Fuller, R. C. 2018. Hybridization and postzygotic isolation promote reinforcement of male mating preferences in a diverse group of fishes with traditional sex roles. Ecology and Evolution. 8(18): 9282-9294. doi:10.1002/ece3.4434 (pdf)

Moran, R. L., and Fuller, R. C. 2018. Agonistic character displacement of genetically based male color patterns across darters. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285(1884): 20181248. doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1248  (preprint) (pdf)
Covered by Illinois News Bureau.

Moran, R. L., R. M. Soukup, M. Zhou, and R. C. Fuller. 2018. Egg viability decreases rapidly with time since ovulation in the rainbow darter Etheostoma caeruleum: implications for the costs of choosiness. Journal of Fish Biology. 92(2):532–536. doi:10.1111/jfb.13523 (pdf)

Moran, R. L. and R. C. Fuller. 2018. Male-driven reproductive and agonistic character displacement in darters and its implications for allopatric speciation.  Current Zoology. 64(1):101-113. doi:10.1093/cz/zox069 (link) (pdf)
Invited contribution to Special Column on Male Competition and Speciation.

2017

Moran, R. L., M. Zhou, J. M. Catchen, and R. C. Fuller. 2017. Male and female contributions to behavioral isolation in darters as a function of genetic distance and color distance. Evolution. 71(10):2428-2444. doi:10.1111/evo.13321 (link) (pdf)

2014

Moran, R. L., C. N. von Ende, and B. H. King. 2014. Seasonal colour change and antipredator behaviour in Etheostoma (Percidae). Journal of Fish Biology. 84(2014):1188–1194. doi:10.1111/jfb.12327 (pdf)

2013

Moran, R. L., C. N. von Ende, and B. H. King. 2013. Mate choice copying in two           species of darters (Percidae: Etheostoma). Behaviour. 150(11):1255-1274.  doi:10.1163/1568539X-00003092 (pdf)

2012

Moran, R. L. 2012. Breeding fantail darters in captivity. American Currents. 37(4):21- 22. (pdf)

2011

Moran, R. L. 2011. Growth and developmental plasticity of Chaoborus americanus populations. University Honors Thesis, Northern Illinois University. (pdf)