Spring 2025 Fellows
Rosalee Elting
Program: Ecology & Evolution
PI: Bret Tobalske
"The tail as both an agonistic signal and a sexually-selected ornament: How powerful hummingbird flight may open an evolutionary window for morphological adaptation."
In my dissertation I seek to understand the evolution of male-male fighting in the context of sexual-selection. Hummingbirds are known for their extraordinary flying ability, motivating considerable study on wing function. Through laboratory and field investigations of agonism between male hummingbirds, I have developed a novel hypothesis that the tail is a key signal for intimidation and assessment. The tail has received little attention outside of courtship sound production. Study of mechanical properties of the tail in agonistic displays is thus novel. Below I outline how an IoE Graduate Student Fellowship would aid in continuation and dissemination of this research.
Sophie Fitzgerald
Program: Ecology & Evolution
PI: Doug Emlen
"Multimodal signaling in rhinoceros beetles."
Japanese rhinoceros beetles are a unique model to study how competition and mate choice impact fitness. Males use their large horns to fight over females, yet still perform ritualized songs before mating. My data demonstrate that physiology and fight performance, rather than weapon size, directly predict mating success. This male competition model, however, does not encompass the totality of sexual selection at play. Expanding it to include courtship traits as covariates will clarify how combat and courtship jointly influence fitness, but completing this analysis will require an additional field season to increase courtship sample sizes.
Sophie's UM profile page
Emlen Lab UM website
Evan Stark-Dykema
Program: Ecology & Evolution
PI: Lila Fishman
"In the driver's seat: How centromeres distort transmission and shape genomes."
Selection ultimately happens on the genomic level and may not always benefit the overall organism. This discrepancy is illustrated in the actions of selfish genetic elements. Here, regions of the genome manipulate meiotic processes to gain an advantage in transmission and are selected for. Often, these selfish regions contain (or quickly gain) something harmful to the organism. Thus, populations are left with deleterious regions of the genome being transmitted at higher-than-expected rates. My research investigates how these selfish regions manipulate meiosis and what evolutionary impacts they have.