Projects

Sex pheromones play an essential role in the modulation of courtship behavior of many sexually reproducing animals. Newts (aquatic reproducing salamanders) display a wide variety of courtship strategies, in which pheromones are a necessary prerequisite for successful reproduction. We recently used a novel two-female ethological test to show that two different male-specific proteins isolated from courtship water of the palmate newt Lissotriton ...

The central aim of my research project is to study how females may shape the phenotype of their offspring via the deposition of MAb into eggs, and how this maternal deposition is affected by their own body, physiological and immunological conditions (later referred to as female phenotypic quality).I will first examine the transfer of MAb from the mother to the eggs. Second, I will look at the effects of these MAb on the physiology, humoral ...

Song in songbirds as a model system for studying complex behaviours: an integration of ecological, physiological and neurobiological data in an evolutionary framework [and also Causes and consequences of variation in complex secondary sexual song characteristics: a longitudinal and multidisciplinary approach by integrating behavioural, physiological and molecular data.

This project represents a research contract awarded by the University of Antwerp. The supervisor provides the Antwerp University research mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions stipulated by the university.

Mothers can influence the phenotype and performance of their offspring by adjusting their deposition of egg components to environmental conditions and according to their own physiological state. Birds, and rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) in particular, have excellent characteristics which can be used to study the sources of variation in maternal investment in eggs and their potential effects on embryonic survival and development. ...

This project aims to investigate the molecular origins of this recurrent melanism and tests a number of hypotheses on how it may have evolved. Many (but not all) cases of melanism in mammals and birds have been traced back to mutations in the MC1R gene, a gene that codes for a key component of the melanocortin system, which regulates the synthesis of the pigment melanin. We aim to isolate and sequence this gene in our study populations, to see ...

Darwin's conception of evolution by natural selection emphasizes the continuity between human and nonhuman species; it therefore regards differences between human and non-human minds as differences "of degree, not of kind" (Darwin, 1871). Yet recently, a number of theories have been formulated that do posit a fundamental difference between human and non-human cognition (Premack, 2010). One of the most prominent of these theories holds that a ...

The evolution of parental care is central to our understanding of among other social systems and sexual selection, which are main areas of research in evolutionary biology. However, virtually nothing is known about its genetic architecture. Parental care includes complex parent-offspring interactions and its evolution therefore depends on the evolution of two traits, parental provisioning and offspring begging. Both behaviours should ultimately ...

The main focus of this project is to asses the signal value of carotenoid colouration in relation to oxidative stress levels and diet quality in the great tit (Parus major). The great tit has a carotenoid based signal, namely the yellow breast colour. The brightness of this colour is linked to the condition and the quality of the bearer. The research will be conducted in a well known metal pollution gradient. We expect that birds in polluted ...