I'm a Published Author!

The manuscript I have been working so hard on for most of the year has finally been published!  

My first publication, Mitochondrial Haplotype Diversity in Zambian Lions: Bridging a Gap in the Biogeography of an Iconic Species, was made live today, December 16th, 2015!  I am now officially a published author!

Table 4. Molecular diversity indices and nucleotide composition.

The paper is about matrelineal gene flow and genetic diversity of lions in Zambia. We found that lions in Zambia have a high level of diversity but can be separated into two sub-populations with little to no matrelineal gene flow between the two. The separation could be historical but it more likely due to an expanse of cities and roads that inhibit modern day dispersal because, when put in context with the entire range of the African lion, Zambia acts as a bridge connecting Southern and Eastern lion populations. This is all based on analysis of mitochondrial genes and the discovery of 5 sets of DNA variations (haplotypes) thus far not seen anywhere else in Africa.

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Fig 1. Map of Zambia showing the five main areas sampled: LV (Luangwa Valley); CO (Corridor); ZA (Lower Zambezi); KF (Kafue); and SI (Sioma Ngwezi).
Eastern region consists of LV, CO and ZA. Western region consists of KF and SI. More detailed location information for each sample is available in S1 Table.

Fig 2. Geographic location of lion samples and phylogenetic relationship of 12S-16S.
(A) Range-wide map of lions sampled. Circles indicate geographic locations for populations determined by Antunes et al. [13]. Zambia is denoted by a square. All locations aside from ZAM (Zambia) were established by Antunes et al. 2009: UGA (Uganda); KEN (Kenya); SER (Serengeti National Park, Tanzania); NGC (Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania); KRU (Kruger National Park, South Africa); BOT-I (Southern Botswana and Kalahari, South Africa); BOT-II (Northern Botswana); NAM (Namibia); GIR (Gir Forest, India); ANG (Angola); ZBW (Zimbabwe); and MOR (Morocco). (B) Bayesian analysis with posterior probability values on the nodes. H1-H12 are haplotypes that were described by Antunes et al. 2009 and Z1-Z5 are novel haplotypes so far only found within Zambia.

Here's my official citation:

​Curry CJ, White PA, Derr JN (2015) Mitochondrial Haplotype Diversity in Zambian Lions: Bridging a Gap in the Biogeography of an Iconic Species. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0143827. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0143827

I am currently working on a press release for this paper and I have already started writing my next publication, hopefully with two others soon to follow after that. My goal is that by the time I finish my PhD I will have at least 5 publications. Let the fun begin!