Phenotypic evolution - sexual and natural selection

'Tropidurus torquatus' - Guarapari-ES

In my postdoc I began to study which kinds of selection pressures resulted in phenotypic differentiation in a group of Brazilian lizards. I'm identifying the correlated evolution of morphology, performance and habitat use incorporating between-sex differentiation into the equation. This study demands a lot of field work which is really fun! I started a mark-recapture study in one of the species to quantify selection on morphological and functional traits in the wild. Also, I'm collecting and measuring several different species to complete a comparative study.  

Developmental plasticity

Together with some colleagues, I'm investigating how form and function of Tropidurus lizards is influenced by the temperature that their eggs experience during incubation treatments. Also, we investigate if form-function relationships are influenced by substrate use during ontogeny, We are using some cool techniques such as: x-ray and high-speed cameras. 

Tropidurus babies born in the lab

Facultative sex allocation

Brown anole couple caught in the act at Palm Coast, FL.

In the Warner lab, I have an experiment set up to test if female brown anoles use sex-ratios as clues to allocate the sex of their offspring. As their reproductive season is extended, we are using both adult and juvenile sex-ratios in our treatments. The animals are being housed in an outdoor space and females are producing lots of eggs. I'm pumped to see the eggs hatching!

Collaborators

Check back soon.