Developmental plasticity and evolution
A broad question of evolutionary biology is how new traits evolve. Development is often considered to be internal to the organism, with the environment acting primarily as an external source of selection that sifts between alternative developmental pathways. Yet, internal and external factors define and specify each other during development to produce phenotypic outcomes, and this is true for behavior as well.
Behaviors like parental care often create the developmental environment for offspring, with major implications for behavior and physiology of offspring in later life and potentially fitness. A major goal of my work is to illuminate how parental care influences behavioral development of offspring in burying beetles. In my future work, I will investigate whether the patterns within species are recapitulated across species, with a specific focus on how behavior influences evolution.
Brain of a male Nicrophorus orbicollis, stained with DAPI.
Behaviors like parental care often create the developmental environment for offspring, with major implications for behavior and physiology of offspring in later life and potentially fitness. A major goal of my work is to illuminate how parental care influences behavioral development of offspring in burying beetles. In my future work, I will investigate whether the patterns within species are recapitulated across species, with a specific focus on how behavior influences evolution.
Brain of a male Nicrophorus orbicollis, stained with DAPI.