Weekly Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) Seminars in Ancon, try to attend, these are interesting & a "social hour" follows:
Tuesday seminar November 25th, 2014 at the Earl S. Tupper Conference Center
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Announcing the STRI Tuesday afternoon seminar November 25th, 2014 at 4:00 pm in the Earl S. Tupper auditorium:
Speaker: Douglas J. Emlen
Title: Mechanism(s) of Extreme Growth
Abstract: Many male animals wield ornaments or weapons of exaggerated proportions. We propose that increased cellular sensitivity to signaling through the insulin/insulin- like growth factor (IGF) pathway may be responsible for extreme growth of these structures. We document how rhinoceros beetle horns, a sexually selected weapon, are more sensitive to nutrition and more responsive to perturbation of the insulin/IGF pathway than other body structures. We then illustrate how enhanced sensitivity to insulin/IGF signaling in a growing ornament or weapon would cause heightened condition-sensitivity and increased variability in expression among individuals—critical properties of reliable signals of male quality. The possibility that reliable signaling arises as a byproduct of the growth mechanism may explain why trait exaggeration has evolved so many different times in the context of sexual selection.
Upcoming seminars:
December 2: USGS/UNESCO speaker
Title to be announced
December 9: Jonathan Dandois, STRI
Computer vision remote sensing of forest canopies
December 16: Speaker and title to be announced
Tuesday seminar November 25th, 2014 at the Earl S. Tupper Conference Center
2 Attachment(s) Download All
Announcing the STRI Tuesday afternoon seminar November 25th, 2014 at 4:00 pm in the Earl S. Tupper auditorium:
Speaker: Douglas J. Emlen
Title: Mechanism(s) of Extreme Growth
Abstract: Many male animals wield ornaments or weapons of exaggerated proportions. We propose that increased cellular sensitivity to signaling through the insulin/insulin- like growth factor (IGF) pathway may be responsible for extreme growth of these structures. We document how rhinoceros beetle horns, a sexually selected weapon, are more sensitive to nutrition and more responsive to perturbation of the insulin/IGF pathway than other body structures. We then illustrate how enhanced sensitivity to insulin/IGF signaling in a growing ornament or weapon would cause heightened condition-sensitivity and increased variability in expression among individuals—critical properties of reliable signals of male quality. The possibility that reliable signaling arises as a byproduct of the growth mechanism may explain why trait exaggeration has evolved so many different times in the context of sexual selection.
Upcoming seminars:
December 2: USGS/UNESCO speaker
Title to be announced
December 9: Jonathan Dandois, STRI
Computer vision remote sensing of forest canopies
December 16: Speaker and title to be announced
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