Martins Lab

Emília Martins’ Lab

Department of Biology
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN USA 47405
(812) 855-5652 (main),
(812) 856-0917 (zfish),
(812) 856-5840 (Emília),
(812) 855-6705 (FAX)

Email Emília: emartins (@indiana.edu)

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Cyclura nubila by Allison Alberts, San Diego Zoo

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? Current efforts focus on:

Genetic & genomic mechanisms of long-term evolutionary change. We are doing QTL and microarray experiments with zebrafish (both lab strains and natural populations from India) to identify genetic changes associated with natural shifts in complex behavior.

Evolution of multimodal and multi-component communicative signals. We combine large-scale, comparative field studies of lizard head-bob displays with 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.

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.