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Liliana Cortés Ortiz
Assistant Research Scientist
Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, January 2003, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia. Norwich, Norfolk, England
U-M affiliation(s)
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Museum of Zoology
Contact information
University of Michigan
Museums Annex Room 138
1109 Geddes Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079
Phone: (734) 615-9950
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: lcortes@umich.edu
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Fields of study
Evolution of neotropical primates
Academic background
Dr. Cortés Ortiz received her Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia in 2003; her dissertation on the evolution of howler monkeys was mainly directed by Dr. Eldredge Bermingham of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. In 1998, she received a master’s degree in neuroethology from the Universidad Veracruzana, in Xalapa, Veracruz Mexico, with a dissertation on the mating behavior and social system of howler monkeys. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the Universidad Veracruzana in 1992. She joined the faculty of Universidad Veracruzana, as a permanent research professor at the Tropical Research Center (2003-2005). At the University of Michigan she is an assistant research scientist since September 2004 in a shared position between the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Museum of Zoology.
News
New Genomic Diversity Lab director
Dr. Liliana Cortés Ortiz is the new director of the Genomic Diversity Laboratory and is responsible for coordinating usage of the facility.
The GDL, located in the Ruthven Museums Building, has molecular genetics equipment and computers available to support research activities of students and faculty from the Museum of Zoology, EEB and other departments at U-M. The GDL includes a main laboratory, a dark room for DNA visualization, a small conference room, and a room for ancient DNA work. The GDL contains all necessary equipment to perform molecular techniques (thermocyclers, centrifuges, freezers, dry baths, electrophoresis chambers, power supplies, photo-documentation system, to name a few) involved with DNA sequencing, microsatellite and amplified fragment length polymorphism work, and more. Five G5 Macintosh computers and a PC are available to GDL users for data analyses. For information on how to use the GDL please contact Cortés Ortiz or Professor Bill Fink.
First genetic evidence of hybridization in large-bodied New World primates
There are few well-documented cases of natural hybridization among primates. Natural hybridization has only been reported for small-bodied New World species and even among these, no genotypic evidence has ever been presented to confirm the reports. Evolutionary biologists Liliana Cortés Ortiz, Tom Duda and colleagues present genetic evidence of hybridization of two large-bodied species of neotropical primates (howler monkeys) that diverged some three million years ago.
Their work will likely aid understanding of how new species form, origins of reproductive isolation among primates, and the role of hybridization in primate evolution. “Hybridization in large-bodied New World primates” was published in Genetics, August 2007.
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