Drosophila head, close up

Phylogeny, environment and sexual communication across the Drosophila genus

Are you interested in the secret to love and a healthy relationship? If so then you should stop PhD student Jacob Jezovit (Levine Lab) in the hallway and he can tell you all about it, at least as it relates to Drosophila. Jacob just published his first 1st-authored paper “Phylogeny, environment and sexual communication across the Drosophila genus” in Journal of Experimental Biology. In this paper, Jacob and his coauthors (including PDF Dr. Jon Schneider) provide an overview of how life history and phylogenetic constraints shape visual and chemical signals during courtship in Drosophila. Their paper highlights how the physiological and behavioural differences among many fly species may reflect life history differences as much as, or even more than, differences in evolutionary history. This perspective serves not only to summarize what has been studied across drosophilids, but also to identify questions and gaps in the literature worth pursuing to understand behavioural evolution in Drosophila.

Congrats on your FIRST PAPER AWARD!

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