“And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.”
- Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are
The animal kingdom is replete with a varied repertoire of behaviors. The roarings, gnashings, and rollings of many a wild thing are considered some of the most captivating and noteworthy examples of phenotypic diversity. I am especially interested in those behaviors used for animal communication - when individuals need to convey information to one another. How do senders create signals? How do receivers understand them? Which evolutionary processes generate or constrain their evolution? And what does this mean for phenotypic and species diversity?
Specifically, my research focuses on understanding the molecular basis for behavioral evolution. I am particularly intrigued by signals used in mating contexts and how receivers make mating decisions. I have primarily used a comparative approach to understand how behaviors have evolved between species.
Specifically, my research focuses on understanding the molecular basis for behavioral evolution. I am particularly intrigued by signals used in mating contexts and how receivers make mating decisions. I have primarily used a comparative approach to understand how behaviors have evolved between species.
Mechanisms of behavior
Behaviors are complex phenotypes, and as such, are likely to be influenced by a great number of genetic markers. But the relative contribution of these loci to any given behavior, or how a behavior changes between species, is very much an unresolved question due to its difficulty in assessing. Only a handful of studies successfully link specific loci to evolutionary changes in behavior. I am exploring how changes in a candidate gene encoding a key bioluminescence enzyme ("c-luciferase") influences signal form in ostracod bioluminescent displays.
Consequences on biodiversity
Behavior is a responsive phenotype, sensitive to ecological cues that can influence its current form and potential evolutionary trajectory. Because behavior serves as an animal's way to rapidly acclimate to changing environments, it can be quickly evolving as organisms face new challenges, and even act as an innovation unlocking new niches for evolutionary radiation. Both at the ecological scale such as in the assembly or maintenance of diverse communities, to the evolutionary scale, like the relative proclivity or pauperism towards speciation in whole clades, behavior provides a way to understand when we expect diversity to appear.
Future directions
They are coming.
Field work in the Florida Keys with co-author Emily A. Ellis (pictured), Marko Alexandrou, and Todd H. Oakley.
Photo courtesy of Marko Alexandrou.
Banner: The bioluminescent courtship displays of Caribbean ostracods. Each vertical trail of lights is the display of a single male ostracod. Credit: Martin Dohrn (Ammonite Films) and Dr. Gretchen A. Gerrish.
