We study the evolution of behavior in response to social and environmental variables.
Amphibians display extreme behavioral variation among closely related species. This diversity allows us to explore how novel behaviors and their underlying mechanisms evolve.
Behavior
Parent-Offspring Communication
Lab member: Najva Akbari and Billie Goolsby
How do infants communicate their needs to parents? How do parents coordinate care for offspring? Communication between parents and offspring is required for survival in many species. Yet we understand very little about how parents synchronize behavior and how infants communicate their needs. We are studying the neural basis of behavioral coordination and communication in a biparental poison frogs where tadpoles beg parents for meals. Collaborator: Kyle Summers (East Carolina University).
Sociality and Aggression
Lab members: Neil Khosla and Max Madrzyk
What is the neural basis of sociality and aggression? Poison frog tadpoles vary in their level of sociality, or whether individuals can tolerate being in a social group or display fierce aggression. Some species are group-transported into large pools of water with their siblings and are very sociable. Others tadpole species live in extremely small pools and are fiercely aggressive in defense of their territory. We are exploring the environmental factors that led to species differences in tadpole sociality from an evolutionary neuroscience perspective.
Neurobiology in Changing Environments
Lab member: Jenni Serrano Rojas
What are the neural mechanisms that allow animals to cope with changing environments? Can parental care buffer against climate change? Some species of amphibians can cope with climate change better than others. We are asking what is it about some brains that allows organisms to be resilient or susceptible to changing environments. We are currently studying how the brain senses abiotic factors and how parental care changes with climate.
Territorial Aggression
Lab member: Camilo Rodríguez and Mile Betancourth
What are the neural mechanisms that promote territorial aggression in females? Are these the same as in males (correlated evolution) or different (independent evolution)? Poison frog species vary in which sex displays territorial aggression, whether it is males, females, or both. We are using this natural variation in behavior to understand the evolutionary and mechanistic basis of sex differences in territorial aggression, with a focus on sex steroid hormone systems.
Biological Rhythms
Lab member: Mila Pamplona Barbosa
How does the amphibian brain regulate biological rhythms? Is climate change creating a misalignment of biological rhythms and resource availability? How amphibian brains keep time on a daily and seasonal basis is unclear. Usually day length signals the coming of food and breeding opportunities, but there may be a misalignment between those signals as the environment changes. We are asking how the frog brain keeps time and how a changing environment may impact frog fitness. We are asking these questions using glassfrogs, whose transparency likely allows for specialized sensitivity to biological rhythms.
Social bonds
Lab member: Jessica Nowicki
What are the neural mechanisms of social bonds? Social bonds, such as pair bonds, are critical for lifelong wellbeing. In order to identify generalizable principals of social bonds, we are studying the neural basis of pair bonding across phylogenically diverse taxa, including butterflyfish, poison frogs, skinks, quail, and voles. This project re-traces the deep, ~450 million years of evolutionary history of vertebrate pair bonding and aims to identify fundamental principles of socially bonding. Collaborators: Liqun Luo (Stanford), Darren Coker (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Mike Gardner (Flinders University), and Alex Ophir (Cornell University).
Spider Neuroethology
Lab members: Mesi Fischer
What is the neural basis of parental care in arachnids? Similar to vertebrates, many invertebrate species show parental care to increase the survival of their offspring. We are studying this process in wolf spiders, which carry their spiderlings on their backs. We are working on building the tools and resources to study the neuroethology of parental behavior in this fascinating species.