Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
📍 5F5 AB1
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Research Area
Evolutionary Biology, Biodiversity Genomics, Molecular Ecology, Conservation Genomics, Ancient DNA
Research Interests
I am an evolutionary biologist by training, specializing in population genetics and behavioral ecology. My main research interest is to understand the impact of past and current climate change on biodiversity and speciation in vertebrates. Using a combination of fresh and ancient samples from museums and archaeological collections, my research group will investigate the impact of climate change on speciation and community dynamics of mammals for the past few million years.
2021 - 2025 : Ramalingaswami Fellow, Ashoka University
2020 - 2021 : Ramanujan Fellow, Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology
2014 - 2019 : Postdoctoral Fellow, National University of Singapore
2008 - 2014 : PhD Biology, National Centre for Biological Sciences
2006 - 2008 : MSc Genomics, Madurai Kamaraj University
2003 - 2006 : BSc Biochemistry, Genetics, and Biotechnology, Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College/Bangalore University
Society for the Study of Evolution Travel Award, 2013
Best poster award along with travel award National Centre for Biological Sciences, 2013
Travel award to attend 12th International Society for Behavioral Ecology, 2012
Best student award from National Centre for Biological Sciences, 2009
‘Maveeran Sundaralingam Endowment Scholarship’ for having secured the highest marks in M.Sc., 2008
First in Bangalore University B.Sc. Vocational Sciences, 2007
Best Student Award from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, 2007
Certificate for the Academic Excellence from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, 2006
Kritika M Garg, Chyi Yin Gwee, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Nathaniel S Ng, Dewi M Prawiradilaga, Gabriel David, Jérôme Fuchs, Hung Le Manh, Jonathan Martinez, Urban Olsson and others. When colors mislead: Genomics and bioacoustics prompt re-classification of Asian flycatcher radiation (Aves: Niltavinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 193:107999, 2024.
Kritika M Garg, Pilot Dovih and Balaji Chattopadhyay. Hybrid de novo genome assembly of the sexually dimorphic Lady Amherst’s pheasant. DNA Research 31(1):dsae001, 2024.
Kritika M Garg, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Emilie Cros, Suzanne Tomassi, Suzan Benedick, David P Edwards and Frank E Rheindt. Island biogeography revisited: museomics reveals affinities of shelf island birds determined by bathymetry and paleo-rivers, not by distance to mainland. Molecular Biology and Evolution 39(1):msab340, 2022.
Chyi Yin Gwee, Kritika M Garg, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Keren R Sadanandan, Dewi M Prawiradilaga, Martin Irestedt, Fumin Lei, Luke M Bloch, Jessica GH Lee, Mohammad Irham and others. Phylogenomics of white-eyes, a ‘great speciator’, reveals Indonesian archipelago as the center of lineage diversity. Elife 9:e62765, 2020.
Prashant Shingate, Vydianathan Ravi, Aravind Prasad, Boon-Hui Tay, Kritika M Garg, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Laura-Marie Yap, Frank E Rheindt and Byrappa Venkatesh. Chromosome-level assembly of the horseshoe crab genome provides insights into its genome evolution. Nature communications 11(1):2322, 2020.
Kritika M Garg, Katerina Sam, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Keren R Sadanandan, Bonny Koane, Per GP Ericson and Frank E Rheindt. Gene flow in the Müllerian mimicry ring of a poisonous Papuan songbird clade (Pitohui; Aves). Genome biology and evolution 11(8):2332–2343, 2019.
Balaji Chattopadhyay, Kritika M Garg, Ian H Mendenhall and Frank E Rheindt. Historic DNA reveals Anthropocene threat to a tropical urban fruit bat. Current Biology 29(24):R1299–R1300, 2019.
Kritika M Garg, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Peter R Wilton, Dewi Malia Prawiradilaga and Frank E Rheindt. Pleistocene land bridges act as semipermeable agents of avian gene flow in Wallacea. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 125:196–203, 2018.
Kritika M Garg, Robert Tizard, Nathaniel SR Ng, Emilie Cros, Ariya Dejtaradol, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Nila Pwint, Martin Päckert and Frank E Rheindt. Genome-wide data help identify an avian species-level lineage that is morphologically and vocally cryptic. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 102:97–103, 2016.
Kritika M Garg, Balaji Chattopadhyay, PARAMANATHA SWAMI DOSS D, VINOTH KUMAR AK, Sripathi Kandula and Uma Ramakrishnan. Promiscuous mating in the harem-roosting fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx. Molecular Ecology 21(16):4093–4105, 2012.