Our research strives to understand how complex behavioral traits evolve over long periods of time. Which of the microevolutionary forces (genetics, learning, environmental change) acting on a generation time scale actually lead to major, long-term diversification? How do interactions among components of complex phenotypes influence long-term change?
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Department
of Biology
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN USA 47405
(812) 855-5652 (main),
(812) 856-5840 (Emília),
(812) 855-6705 (FAX)
Email Emília:
emartins (@indiana.edu)
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- Evolution of multimodal and multi-component communicative signals.
We are collaborating with Diana Hews (Indiana State University) on a large-scale, comparative study of Sceloporus lizard communicative displays, asking about the mechanistic causes, behavioral and physiological consequences of evolutionary losses in the dramatic blue belly patches typical of this genus. We are combining field studies of lizard head-bob displays with field and laboratory experiments of visual and chemical cues (playbacks with a robotic lizard, choice tests, and biochemical analyses) to understand how and why animals use multiple signal components to convey similar messages.
- Evolution of behavioral syndromes in complex genomic, social and selective regimes.
We are studying evolutionary shifts in zebrafish behavioral syndromes in lab strains and natural populations (from India) to understand how interactions between genes, social, and selective forces shape changes in multivariate phenotypes. We are particularly interested in group learning and population-level selection.
- Phylogenetic comparative method and bioinformatics of complex traits. We maintain and develop COMPARE, a large package of programs for inferring evolution from comparative data in a phylogenetic context. We are also developing new computational tools for application to behavioral data, such as EthoSource, EthoBank, BeSt, and SocANet.
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