Braun, Michael

Research Zoologist

Molecular phylogenetics, molecular evolutionary genetics, avian hybridization and speciation, biogeography of Neotropical birds, conservation genetics.

Geographic Focus

Background And Education

Education And Training

B.A., Cornell University
Ph.D., Louisiana State University

Research And Grants

Co-principal Investigator On

Genomic Architecture of Speciation in an Avian Hybrid Zone Characterized by Sexually-Selected Brilliant Male Plumage awarded by Competitive Grants Program for Science

Investigator On

Publications

Selected Publications

Article
- Vernasco, Ben J., Long, Kira M., Braun, Michael J., and Brawn, Jeffrey D. 2024. "Genetic and telomeric variability: Insights from a tropical avian hybrid zone." Molecular ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17491. 2024
- Long, Kira M., Rivera-Colón,Angel, G., Bennett, Kevin F. P., Catchen, Julian M., Braun, Michael J., and Brawn, Jeffrey D. 2024. "Ongoing introgression of a secondary sexual plumage trait in a stable avian hybrid zone." Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpae076. 2024
- Rasband, Shauna A., Bolton, Peri E., Fang, Qi, Johnson, Philip L. F., and Braun, Michael J. 2023. "Evolution of the Growth Hormone Gene Duplication in Passerine Birds." Genome Biology and Evolution, 15, (3). https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evad033. 2023
- DeRaad, Devon A., Applewhite, Emily E., Tsai, Whitney L. E., Terrill, Ryan S., Kingston, Sarah E., Braun, Michael J., and McCormack, John E. 2023. "Hybrid zone or hybrid lineage: a genomic reevaluation of Sibley's classic species conundrum in Pipilo towhees." Evolution, 77, (3) 852–869. https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpac068. 2023
- White, Noor D., Batz, Zachary A., Braun, Edward L., Braun, Michael J., Carleton, Karen L., Kimball, Rebecca T., and Swaroop, Anand. 2021. "A novel exome probe set captures phototransduction genes across birds (Aves) enabling efficient analysis of vision evolution." Molecular Ecology Resources, https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13496. 2021
- Bennett, Kevin F. P., Lim, Haw Chuan, and Braun, Michael J. 2021. "Sexual Selection and Introgression in Avian Hybrid Zones: Spotlight on Manacus." Integrative and Comparative Biology, 61, (4) 1291–1309. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab135. 2021
- Braun, Michael J., Wilkinson, Gerald S., and Cade, Brian S. 2020. "Comment on "Female toads engaging in adaptive hybridization prefer high-quality heterospecifics as mates"." Science, 370, (6513). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd3905. 2020
- Feng, Shaohong, Stiller, Josefin, Deng, Yuan, Armstrong, Joel, Fang, Qi, Reeve, Andrew Hart, Xie, Duo, Chen, Guangji, Guo, Chunxue, Faircloth, Brant C., Petersen, Bent, Wang, Zongji, Zhou, Qi, Diekhans, Mark, Chen, Wanjun, Andreu-Sánchez, Sergio, Margaryan, Ashot, Howard, Jason Travis, Parent, Carole, Pacheco, George, Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S., Puetz, Lara, Cavill, Emily, Ribeiro, Ângela M., Eckhart, Leopold et al. 2020. "Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics." Nature, 587, (7833) 252–257. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2873-9. 2020
- Sanchez-Mercado, A., Cardozo-Urdaneta, A., Rodríguez-Clark, Kathryn M., Moran, L., Ovalle, L., Arvelo, M. Angel, Morales-Campos, J., Coyle, Brian J., and Braun, Michael J. 2020. "Illegal wildlife trade networks: finding creative opportunities for conservation intervention in challenging circumstances." Animal Conservation, 23, (2) 151–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12587. 2020
- Lim, Haw Chuan, Shakya, Subir B., Harvey, Michael G., Moyle, Robert G., Fleischer, Robert C., Braun, Michael J., and Sheldon, Frederick H. 2020. "Opening the door to greater phylogeographic inference in Southeast Asia: Comparative genomic study of five codistributed rainforest bird species using target capture and historical DNA." Ecology and Evolution, 10, (7) 3222–3247. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5964. 2020
- Sánchez‐Mercado, A., Cardozo‐Urdaneta, A., Moran, L., Ovalle, L., Arvelo, M. Á., Morales‐Campos, J., Coyle, Brian James, Braun, Michael J., and Rodríguez‐Clark, Kathryn M. 2020. "Social network analysis reveals specialized trade in an Endangered songbird." Animal Conservation, 23, (2) 132–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12514. 2020
- Kimball, Rebecca T., Oliveros, Carl H., Wang, Ning, White, Noor D., Barker, F. Keith, Field, Daniel J., Ksepka, Daniel T., Chesser, R. Terry, Moyle, Robert G., Braun, Michael J., Brumfield, Robb T., Faircloth, Brant C., Smith, Brian Tilston, and Braun, Edward L. 2019. "A Phylogenomic Supertree of Birds." Diversity, 11, (7) 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11070109. 2019
- Oliveros, Carl H., Field, Daniel J., Ksepka, Daniel T., Barker, F. K., Aleixo, Alexandre, Andersen, Michael J., Alström, Per, Benz, Brett W., Braun, Edward L., Braun, Michael J., Bravo, Gustavo A., Brumfield, Robb T., Chesser, R. Terry, Claramunt, Santiago, Cracraft, Joel, Cuervo, Andrés M., Derryberry, Elizabeth P., Glenn, Travis C., Harvey, Michael G., Hosner, Peter A., Joseph, Leo, Kimball, Rebecca T., Mack, Andrew L., Miskelly, Colin M., Peterson, A. T. et al. 2019. "Earth history and the passerine superradiation." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, (16) 7916–7925. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1813206116. 2019
- White, Noor D. and Braun, Michael J. 2019. "Extracting phylogenetic signal from phylogenomic data: Higher-level relationships of the nightbirds (Strisores)." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 141 Article 106611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106611. 2019
- Chen, Albert, White, Noor D., Benson, Roger B. J., Braun, Michael J., and Field, Daniel J. 2019. "Total-Evidence Framework Reveals Complex Morphological Evolution in Nightbirds (Strisores)." Diversity, 11, (9) 143. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11090143. 2019
- Tamashiro, Ryan A., White, Noor D., Braun, Michael J., Faircloth, Brant C., Braun, Edward L., and Kimball, Rebecca T. 2019. "What are the roles of taxon sampling and model fit in tests of cyto-nuclear discordance using avian mitogenomic data?" Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 130 132–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.008. 2019
- Costa, Thiago V. V., Whitney, Bret M., Braun, Michael J., White, Noor D., Silveira, Luís Fábio, and Cleere, Nigel. 2018. "A systematic reappraisal of the Rufous Potoo Nyctibius bracteatus (Nyctibiidae) and description of a new genus." Journal of Ornithology, 159, (2) 367–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1511-2. 2018
- Rodríguez-Clark, Kathryn M., Davidson, Brian, Kingston, Sarah, Coyle, Brian J., Duchesne, Pierre, and Braun, Michael J. 2018. "Evaluating a potential source of founders for ex situ conservation efforts: genetic differentiation between disjunct populations of the Endangered red siskin Spinus cucullatus." Endangered Species Research, 36 183–196. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00898. 2018
- Sánchez-Mercado, Ada, Rodríguez-Clark, Kathryn M., Miranda, Jhonathan, Ferrer-Paris, José Rafael, Coyle, Brian, Toro, Samuel, Cardozo-Urdaneta, Arlene, and Braun, Michael J. 2018. "How to deal with ground truthing affected by human-induced habitat change?: Identifying high-quality habitats for the Critically Endangered Red Siskin." Ecology and Evolution, 8, (2) 841–851. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3628. 2018
- Kingston, Sarah E., Parchman, T. L., Gompert, Z., Buerkle, C. A., and Braun, Michael J. 2017. "Heterogeneity and concordance in locus-specific differentiation and introgression between species of towhees." Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 30, (3) 474–485. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13033. 2017
- White, Noor D., Mitter, Charles, and Braun, Michael J. 2017. "Ultraconserved Elements Resolve the Phylogeny of Potoos (Aves: Nyctibiidae)." Journal of Avian Biology, 48, (6) 872–880. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01313. 2017
- Reddy, Sushma, Kimball, Rebecca T., Pandey, Akanksha, Hosner, Peter A., Braun, Michael J., Hackett, Shannon J., Han, Kin-Lan, Harshman, John, Huddleston, Christopher J., Kingston, Sarah, Marks, Ben D., Miglia, Kathleen J., Moore, William S., Sheldon, Frederick H., Witt, Christopher C., Yuri, Tamaki, and Braun, Edward L. 2017. "Why do phylogenomic data sets yield conflicting trees? Data type influences the avian tree of life more than taxon sampling." Systematic Biology, 66, (5) 857–879. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syx041. 2017
- White, Noor D., Barrowclough, George F., Groth, Jeff G., and Braun, Michael J. 2016. "A multi-gene estimate of higher-level phylogenetic relationships among Nightjars (Aves: Caprimulgidae)." Ornitología Neotropical, 27 223–236. https://doi.org/10.58843/ornneo.v27i0.88. 2016
- Lim, Haw Chuan and Braun, Michael J. 2016. "High-throughput SNP genotyping of historical and modern samples of five bird species via sequence capture of ultraconserved elements." Molecular Ecology Resources, 16, (5) 1204–1223. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12568. 2016
- Kingston, Sarah E., Navarro-Sigüenza, Adolfo G., García-Trejo, Erick A., Vázquez-Miranda, Hernán, Fagan, William F., and Braun, Michael J. 2014. "Genetic differentiation and habitat connectivity across towhee hybrid zones in Mexico." Evolutionary Ecology, 28, (2) 277–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-013-9673-8. 2014
- Reynolds, Sheila M., Uy, J. Albert C., Patricelli, Gail L., Coleman, Seth W., Braun, Michael J., and Borgia, Gerald. 2014. "Tests of the kin selection model of mate choice and inbreeding avoidance in satin bowerbirds." Behavioral Ecology, 25, (4) 1005–1014. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru065. 2014
- Jarvis, Erich D., Mirarab, Siavash, Aberer, Andre J., Li, Bo, Houde, Peter, Li, Cai, Ho, Simon Y. W., Faircloth, Brant C., Nabholz, Benoit, Howard, Jason T., Suh, Alexander, Weber, Claudia C., Fonseca, Rute R. da, Li, Jianwen, Zhang, Fang, Li, Hui, Zhou, Long, Narula, Nitish, Liu, Liang, Ganapathy, Ganesh, Boussau, Bastien, Bayzid, Md Shamsuzzoha, Zavidovych, Volodymyr, Subramanian, Sankar, Gabaldón, Toni et al. 2014. "Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds." Science, 346, (6215) 1320–1331. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1253451. 2014
- Yuri, Tamaki, Kimball, Rebecca, Harshman, John, Bowie, Rauri, Braun, Michael J., Chojnowski, Jena, Han, Kin-Lan, Hackett, Shannon, Huddleston, Christopher, Moore, William, Reddy, Sushma, Sheldon, Frederick, Steadman, David, Witt, Christopher, and Braun, Edward. 2013. "Parsimony and Model-Based Analyses of Indels in Avian Nuclear Genes Reveal Congruent and Incongruent Phylogenetic Signals." Biology, 2, (1) 419–444. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology2010419. 2013
- Coyle, Brian J., Braun, Michael J., Rodríguez-Clark, Kathryn M., and Moleiro, Leonel Ovalle. 2013. "Recovering the endangered Red Siskin." Journal of the National Finch and Softbill Society, 30–38. 2013
- Davidson, Brian S., Sattler, Gene D., Via, Sara, and Braun, Michael J. 2013. "Reproductive isolation and cryptic introgression in a sky island enclave of Appalachian birds." Ecology and Evolution, 3, (8) 2485–2496. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.604. 2013
- Parchman, T. L., Gompert, Z., Braun, Michael J., Brumfield, R. T., McDonald, D. B., Uy, J., Jarvis, E. D., Schlinger, B. A., and Buerkle, C. A. 2013. "The genomic consequences of adaptive divergence and reproductive isolation between species of manakins." Molecular ecology, 22, (12) 3304–3317. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12201. 2013
- Kingston, Sarah E., Jernigan, Robert W., Fagan, William F., Braun, David R., and Braun, Michael J. 2012. "Genomic variation in cline shape across a hybrid zone." Ecology and Evolution, 2, (11) 2737–2748. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.375. 2012
- Pravosudov, V. V., Roth, T. C., Forister, M. L., LaDage, L. D., Burg, T. M., Braun, Michael J., and Davidson, Brian S. 2012. "Population genetic structure and its implications for adaptive variation in memory and the hippocampus on a continental scale in food-caching black-capped chickadees." Molecular Ecology, 21, (18) 4486–4497. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05721.x. 2012
- Han, Kin-Lan, Braun, Edward L., Kimball, Rebecca T., Reddy, Sushma, Bowie, Rauri C. K., Braun, Michael J., Chojnowski, Jena L., Hackett, Shannon J., Harshman, John, Huddleston, Christopher J., Marks, Ben D., Miglia, Kathleen J., Moore, William S., Sheldon, Frederick H., Steadman, David W., Witt, Christopher C., and Yuri, Tamaki. 2011. "Are Transposable Element Insertions Homoplasy Free?: An Examination Using the Avian Tree of Life." Systematic Biology, 60, (3) 375–386. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syq100. 2011
- Braun, Edward L., Kimball, Rebecca T., Han, Kin-Lan, Iuhasz-Velez, Naomi R., Bonilla, Amber J., Chojnowski, Jena L., Smith, Jordan V., Bowie, Rauri C. K., Braun, Michael J., Hackett, Shannon J., Harshman, John, Huddleston, Christopher J., Marks, Ben D., Miglia, Kathleen J., Moore, William S., Reddy, Sushma, Sheldon, Frederick H., Witt, Christopher C., and Yuri, Tamaki. 2011. "Homoplastic microinversions and the avian tree of life." Bmc Evolutionary Biology, 11 141. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-11-141. 2011
- Rodríguez-Clark, Kathryn M., Maldonado, Jesús E., Ascanio, David, Gamero, Emperatriz, Ovalle Moleiro, Leonel, Pérez-Emán, Jorge, and Braun, Michael J. 2011. "Using genetics to understand and conserve the Red Siskin (Carduelis cucullata)." Journal of the National Finch and Softbill Society, 25. 2011
- Han, Kin-Lan, Robbins, Mark B., and Braun, Michael J. 2010. "A Multi-gene Estimate of Phylogeny in the Nightjars and Nighthawks (Caprimulgidae)." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 55, (2) 443–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.023. 2010
- Braun, Michael J. and Huddleston, Christopher J. 2010. "Response to Mayr and Manegold." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 55, (1) 345–346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.12.014. 2010
- Olson, Jennifer R., Cooper, Sheldon J., Swanson, David L., Braun, Michael J., and Williams, Joseph B. 2010. "The Relationship of Metabolic Performance and Distribution in Black-Capped and Carolina Chickadees." Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 83, (2) 263–275. 2010
- Braun, Michael J. and Huddleston, Christopher J. 2009. "A Molecular Phylogenetic Survey of Caprimulgiform Nightbirds Illustrates the Utility of Non-coding Sequences." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 53, (3) 948–960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.08.025. 2009
- Kimball, Rebecca T., Braun, Edward L., Barker, F. Keith, Bowie, Rauri C. K., Braun, Michael J., Chojnowski, Jena L., Hackett, Shannon J., Han, Kin-Lan, Harshman, John, Heimer-Torres, Victoria, Holznagel, Wallace, Huddleston, Christopher J., Marks, Ben D., Miglia, Kathleen J., Moore, William S., Reddy, Sushma, Sheldon, Frederick H., Smith, Jordan V., Witt, Christopher C., and Yuri, Tamaki. 2009. "A well-tested set of primers to amplify regions spread across the avian genome." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 50, (3) 654–660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2008.11.018. 2009
- Reynolds, Sheila M., Christman, Mary C., Uy, J. Albert C., Patricelli, Gail L., Braun, Michael J., and Borgia, Gerald. 2009. "Lekking satin bowerbird males aggregate with relatives to mitigate aggression." Behavioral Ecology, 20, (2) 410–415. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arn146. 2009
- Meares, Kate, Dawson, Deborah A., Horsburgh, Gavin J., Glenn, Travis C., Jones, Kenneth L., Braun, Michael J., Perrin, Mike R., and Taylor, Tiawanna D. 2009. "Microsatellite loci characterized in three African crane species (Gruidae, Aves)." Molecular Ecology Resources, 9, (1) 308–311. 2009
- Yuri, Tamaki, Jernigan, Robert W., Brumfield, Robb T., Bhagabati, Nirmal K., and Braun, Michael J. 2009. "The effect of marker choice on estimated levels of introgression across an avian (Pipridae: Manacus) hybrid zone." Molecular Ecology, 18, (23) 4888–4903. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04381.x. 2009
- Hackett, Shannon J., Kimball, Rebecca T., Reddy, Sushma, Bowie, Rauri C. K., Braun, Edward L., Braun, Michael J., Chojnowski, Jena L., Cox, W. Andrew, Han, Kin-Lan, Harshman, John, Huddleston, Christopher J., Marks, Ben D., Miglia, Kathleen J., Moore, William S., Sheldon, Frederick H., Steadman, David W., Witt, Christopher C., and Yuri, Tamaki. 2008. "A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History." Science, 320, (5884) 1763–1768. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1157704. 2008
- Yuri, Tamaki, Kimball, Rebecca T., Braun, Edward L., and Braun, Michael J. 2008. "Duplication and Accelerated Evolution of Growth Hormone Gene in Passerine Birds." Molecular Biology and Evolution, 25 352–361. 2008
- Harshman, J., Braun, Edward L., Braun, Michael J., Huddleston, Christopher J., Bowie, R. C. K., Chojnowski, J. L., Hackett, S. J., Han, K., Kimball, R. T., Marks, B. D., Miglia, K. J., Moore, W. S., Reddy, S., Sheldon, F. H., Steadman, D. W., Steppan, Scott J., Witt, C. C., and Yuri, T. 2008. "Phylogenomic evidence for multiple losses of flight in ratite birds." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, (36) 13462–13467. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0803242105. 2008
- Cleere, N., Kratter, A. W., Steadman, D. W., Braun, Michael J., Huddleston, Christopher J., and Filardi, C. E. 2007. "A new genus of frogmouth (Podargidae) from the Solomon Islands results from a taxonomic review of Podargus ocellatus inexpectatus Hartert 1901." Ibis, 149, (2) 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00626.x. 2007
- Sattler, G. D., Sawaya, P., and Braun, Michael J. 2007. "An assessment of song admixture and its reliability as an indicator of genetic ancestry in Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees." The Auk, 124, (3) 926–944. https://doi.org/10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[926:AAOSAA]2.0.CO;2. 2007
- Robbins, M. B., Braun, Michael J., Milensky, Christopher M., Schmidt, Brian K., Prince, W., Rice, N. H., Finch, D. W., and O'Shea, B. J. 2007. "Avifauna of the Upper Essequibo River and Acary Mountains, Southern Guyana." Ornitologia Neotropical, 18, (3) 339–368. 2007
- Reynolds, S. M., Dryer, K., Bollback, J., Uy, A. C., Patricelli, Gail L., Robson, T., Borgia, Gerald, and Braun, Michael J. 2007. "Behavioral paternity predicts genetic paternity in Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), a species with a non-resource-based mating system." The Auk, 124, (3) 857–867. https://doi.org/10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[857:BPPGPI]2.0.CO;2. 2007
Book
- Braun, Michael J., Finch, D. W., Robbins, M. B., and Schmidt, Brian K. 2007. A Field Checklist of the Birds of Guyana, 2nd Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press. 2007
Chapter
- Arvelo, Miguel, Braun, Michael J., Coyle, Brian J., Davis, Sam, Diaz, Zirza, Fink, Jonathan, Lynch, Warren, Hansen, Paula, Marinari, Paul, Miranda, Jonathan, Monfort, Steven L., Ovalle-Moleiro, Leonel, Rodríguez, Jon Paul, Rodríguez-Clark, Kathryn M., Rodríguez-Ferraro, Adriana, Royer, Erica, Sánchez-Mercado, Ada Y., and Sucre, Bibiana. 2017. "The Red Siskin Initiative: Saving an Endangered Finch in Partnership with Aviculturists." In Finches ’17: White Papers from the Sixth International Finch Convention. Brisbane ed. 45–66. Queensland Finch Society, Ltd.. 2017
- Rodríguez-Clark, Kathryn M., Rojas-Suárez, F., Sharpe, Christopher J., Miranda, Jonathan, Ascanio, David, Lentino, Miguel, and Braun, Michael J. 2014. "Cardenalito, Sporagra cucullata." In Libro Rojo de la Fauna Venezolana, Edición en Linea. Rodríguez, Jon Paul and Rojas-Suárez, F., editors. Caracas, Venezuela: Provita, Conservación Internacional Venezuela and Fundación Empresas Polar. 2014

Braun, Michael

Research Zoologist

Braun, Michael

Research Zoologist

Geographic Focus

Background And Education

Education And Training

Research And Grants

Co-principal Investigator On

Investigator On

Publications

Selected Publications

Article

Book

Chapter

Affiliation

Member Of

Contact

Location

Braun, Michael

Research Zoologist

Share Profile URI

Braun, Michael

Research Zoologist

Geographic Focus

Background And Education

Education And Training

Research And Grants

Co-principal Investigator On

Investigator On

Publications

Selected Publications

Article

Book

Chapter

Affiliation

Member Of

Contact

Location