Native Plant Society of New Mexico Native Plant Society of New Mexico

Phylogenetics & Population Genomics in the Milkwort genus Hebecarpa (Polygalaceae)

Phylogenetics tells us how organisms at different taxonomic scales are related and can elucidate the presence of cryptic species otherwise unknown to science—however, the phylogenetic perspective allows us to see beyond just questions of taxonomy. My research looks into the evolution of a highly unresolved genus of mostly mountain-dwelling plants whose habitat affinities and character traits may allow us to better understand patterns of evolution as well as millions of years of paleoclimate history in North America.

Christopher Joaquín Muñoz is a PhD candidate at The University of Texas at El Paso’s Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Program, where he works out of the Plant Evolution Lab of Dr. Michael Moody.