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These are academic papers written for a professional biology audience. Click on corresponding image to download a PDF version of each paper.
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Although mutant individual are rare in ant colonies, they may in fact be more common than though and hold important information about the developmental biology and evolutionary possibilities in ant form and colony function. This paper, currently under review, explores this from the starting point of a mutant discovered in the colony of the ant Pheidole morrisi. |
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This a a brief book review of the book Ant Encounters: Colony behavior and network interactions (2010), by Deborah Gordon. What is the nature of ant interactions and the the complex systems the colony represents? how do collective behaviors emerge and what models do we use to understand these natural systems? |
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The concept of ant, bee, and termite colonies as "superorganisms" has re-emerged as an important concept in biological research, however their relevance for the field of EvoDevo remains under-explored. This paper reviews the superorganism concept and the role these organisms can play as model systems in the light of an evolution & development framework. |
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Much of the theory behind division of labor - be it in ants or in factory workers - is based on the premise that since workers specialize in different jobs, the the optimum proportion of different kinds of workers should change when conditions change. As intuitive as it is, surprisingly few demonstrations of this fundamental prediction actually have been found in nature. Within this study are some interesting findings as to how development might constrain natural selection in unexpected ways. |
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Aesop famously argued that ants are industrious: Compared to the Grasshopper who played all summer, the ants worked hard storing away food for the coming winter. Well, now science has confirmed this, at least the ant side of the story. This article describes research I conducted on the seasonal and geographic patterns of fat (yes, fat) storage in ant colonies. It looks at how different physical and behavioral castes are employed to divide the labor of not only nutrient storage, but also defense within the dynamics of ant colonies along a climatic gradient. |