Title: Frogs with a Southern Drawl: Maintenance of Species Boundaries between the Northern and Southern Cricket Frog
Department: Biology
Description: What is a species? How do they form? And how do they remain distinct from one another? These questions are central to the concept of speciation: the evolution and subsequent maintenance of new species through the divergence of populations. Research on speciation usually concentrates on how female mate choice prevents interspecies matings. Male-male competition also plays an important role in reproduction but is relatively understudied as a mechanism of speciation. This project will investigate how sexual selection via male-male competition contributes to speciation in two local "sibling" species of frogs: northern and southern cricket frogs. A field playback experiment will be employed to discern whether male northern cricket frogs (Acris crepitans) can discriminate between male calls of their own species versus those of the southern cricket frog (Acris gryllus) and modulate their aggressive responses accordingly. This research will provide insight into the interplay between speciation and competition in two closely-related species.
Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia
Advisor: James Tumulty
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