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Biology Seminar Series: Dr. Ingo Schlupp
September 8, 2016 at 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
| Location: | 206 Nesbitt Biology Building |
| Cost: | Free |
Dr. Ingo Schlupp
Presidential Professor of Biology
University of Oklahoma
Behavior and Ecology of Livebearing Fishes
Abstract: My group is interested in complex questions in Biology such as the evolution and maintenance of meiosis, speciation, and biogeography. Because livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae) are used to address many questions in biology, we use fish from a toxic cave in Mexico to study the role of abiotic factors in speciation. A key result from this project is that both the toxicity of the water and darkness are major selective forces shaping the penotype of the cavefish. To study the maintenance of meiosis, we compare one of the few asexual,all-female vertebrates, the Amazon molly, with other, closely related bisexual fishes coexisting in the same habitats in Texas. Amazon mollies require sperm from males of another species to reproduce. One important conclusion from these studies is that male mate choice plays a germane role in this mating system.