Not many people would imagine that they have much in common with lizards, especially similarities involving sexuality.
Ryan Calsbeek, an associate professor at Dartmouth College, will be visiting Ohio University to teach students about his studies of Anole lizards. The “Females Bit Back: Cryptic Sex Ratio Bias and the Resolution of Sexual Conflict” talk will focus on natural selection and sexual conflict involving lizards, differences between gender and how males and females are subject to different forms of sexual selection.
The discussion will also have a tie-in to human similarities.
“A lot of mating behaviors you’ll see in these lizards you’ll also see in a college campus,” Calsbeek said. “Just like these lizards, there are noticeable differences between the female thought process and the male thought process.”
Calsbeek started studying Anolis lizards because of the historic legacy associated with them. The Anolis genus is the most species-rich genus in the world. People that study lizards need large sample sizes to produce thorough results and observations and Anole lizards provide these large samples sizes.
“A lot of the background work is already done,” Calsbeek said. “You can just jump right in.”
Calsbeek said he is particularly excited to visit OU because he was personally chosen by a group of graduate students because he is well known and highly respected in the field.
“He paints with a broad brush,” said Ashley Morhardt, president of the Biological Sciences Graduate Society, the group which voted to bring Calsbeek to OU.
“So, he appealed widely to the grads on the panel.”
Calsbeek’s lizard talk is greatly anticipated by student groups as well. OU Wildlife Club is one particular campus organization that is preparing for the event to take place.
Wildlife Club treasurer, Celeste Wheeler, said she is excited for the talk because the Anolis genus is something that she isn’t particularly familiar with.
“I don’t know that much about Anoles specifically,” Wheeler said. “So I think it will be fascinating to see what he’s going to talk about.”
Wheeler also said that she is particularly knowledgeable about salamanders. She hopes the talk will help her and other students draw comparisons between different species.
“There are definite differences (between salamanders and Anoles),” Wheeler said. “But it’s all still within the realm of herpetology. I think it would be interesting to be able to draw comparisons.”
Although students like Wheeler are more interested in the scientific aspects of the talk, she said even students not studying biology or wildlife can take something away from the presentation.
“An event like this is good because there will be aspects that are more general knowledge for people that are just interested in wildlife,” Wheeler said.
@tiffanytouville
tt315212@ohiou.edu
If You Go:
What: Females Bit Back: Cryptic Sex Ratio Bias and the Resolution of Sexual Conflict, with Ryan Calsbeek
When: 10 a.m., Friday
Where: Irvine Hall Room 199
Admission: Free
