The Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) is a notorious starling native to south-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, which has invaded parts of every continent but Antarctica. We established a new study system in Israel (different invasive stages) and India (native), and conducted innovative behavioral trials in wild-caught birds and employed advanced genomics and modelling techniques. Our results illustrate the profile of a successful invader, describing an innovative, non-neophobic species, capable of surviving in highly urbanized environments of varying temperatures and precipitation, that can adapt quickly to new environments while regaining genetic diversity. In addition, we showed that Species Distribution Models are an effective tool in predicting the potential distribution of invasive species both in space and in time, and that local species composition is negligible in high-resolution species distribution modelling, contrary to common theory. We also described the most updated global distribution of the species and studied the factors that influence it. Our findings reflect the major role of anthropogenic impact in shaping global biodiversity.

 

Currently we are studying the genomic dynamics of invasion through genome wide SNP data and RNA sequencing to characterize the mechanism through which the genomic background impacts invasion success.