BEES Graduate Research Seminar: Scott Powell, PhD

Thursday, May 2, 2019

3:30 PM-5:00 PM

Scott Powell, PhD, The George Washington University

How Ecology Shapes the Evolution of the Complex
 Social-Phenotype: Insights From the Turtle Ants

Identifying how ecology shapes adaptive phenotypic change within a diversifying lineage remains one of the most enduring challenges of biodiversity research. While a few well-studied systems have given us valuable insight into general aspects of this process, what drives complex phenotypic change in many taxa remains poorly understood. Of particular interest here are the ecological drivers of phenotypic change in complex social lineages, and especially the evolution of distinct functional forms, or "castes", within insect societies. This talk will examine how integrative functional and comparative approaches reveal the role of ecology in shaping the extraordinary eco-morphological diversification seen in many social insect lineages. The presented research will focus on the turtle ants (genus Cephalotes), an iconic group with respect to morphological evolution in ants, but with ecology that was previously obscured by their obligate arboreal lifestyle.

Contact Information

Amanda Leslie
215.571.4651
arl98@drexel.edu