Current Projects

Evolution of Sexual Dimorphism​ in Pre-Adult Life History Stages

Sexual dimorphism is virtually ubiquitous in adult stages of sexually reproducing metazaons but is rare in earlier stages. Is this due to developmental constraint or lack of ecological selection for dimorphism. My laboratory is studying this using classical genetics and experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster.

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Evolution of Parental Care from Non-Care

Parental care has evolved independently many times in many different animal groups. The selective factors underlying its evolution are well studied in familiar groups with complex systems of parental care (e.g. fish, mammals, birds) but the dynamics underlying the emergence of simple parental care traits in species ancestrally lacking any care is not well studied. I am using simple population genetic computer simulations to study the requirements for parental care in terms of costs and selective factors to better understand both why parental care is so common and why it has not evolved in some taxa.

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