Online Seminar - Pick your poison: physiology of chemical defenses in poison frogs

Many animals have evolved chemical defense strategies to protect themselves from predators and pathogens. While some species synthesize genetically encoded toxins, others acquire them from their environment. Poison frogs acquire chemical defenses from ants and mites in the rainforest leaf litter and have evolved specialized physiological adaptations for toxin bioaccumulation, modification, and resistance. I will discuss work from my lab that suggests local adaptation of poison frogs to their environmental chemical resources and the physiological mechanisms that allow toxin uptake. I will also discuss how chemical defenses have driven the diversification of reproductive behavior. Broadly, this work is contributing to our knowledge of how ecological resources shape animal physiology, behavior, and evolution.

This seminar will be given online via Zoom. Details in attached poster.