Austin Allison: Ground squirrels hibernate to avoid predation, but not at the expense of reproductive opportunities

Austin Allison—a PhD student at Colorado State University and recent MS graduate from the University of Idaho—discusses his recently accepted paper: “Why hibernate? Tests of four hypotheses to explain intraspecific variation in hibernation phenology.” About the Paper Why do animals hibernate? I—like many people—assumed I knew the answer to that question. Animals obviously hibernate to avoid seasonally unsuitable environmental conditions such as freezing temperatures and … Continue reading Austin Allison: Ground squirrels hibernate to avoid predation, but not at the expense of reproductive opportunities

Robin Hare: Notes on a pollen-based sexual economy

In our latest blogpost, Dr. Robin Hare, Tutor at the University of Western Australia and Senior Biologist at Bennelongia Environmental Consultants, discusses with us his recently published paper in Functional Ecology: “Evolutionary divergence via sexual selection acting on females in a species with sex role reversal.” About the paper Our paper is about how ecology and evolution uniquely affect females in a species of bushcricket … Continue reading Robin Hare: Notes on a pollen-based sexual economy