How stealth organs make super soldier ants (Ep 91)

Big Biology

Вміст надано Art Woods, Cam Ghalambor, and Marty Martin, Art Woods, Cam Ghalambor, and Marty Martin. Весь вміст подкастів, включаючи епізоди, графіку та описи подкастів, завантажується та надається безпосередньо компанією Art Woods, Cam Ghalambor, and Marty Martin, Art Woods, Cam Ghalambor, and Marty Martin або його партнером по платформі подкастів. Якщо ви вважаєте, що хтось використовує ваш захищений авторським правом твір без вашого дозволу, ви можете виконати процедуру, описану тут https://uk.player.fm/legal.

1+ y ago 55:12

MP3•Головна епізоду

What is eco-evo-devo? How can ants help us understand the evolution of development?

There are 20 quadrillion ants in the world, and they come in lots of different shapes and sizes. We even see big differences within colonies, like ants in the genus Pheidole which have different castes: workers, soldiers, and, in some species, super soldiers. Super soldiers are the muscle-y brutes of the ant world that grow huge heads to defend the colony and attack large food items, like other insects. This variation is all due to developmental plasticity – the same ant genotype produces distinct phenotypes depending on the environment of their early lives.

On this episode, we talk with Rajee Rajakumar, a professor at the University of Ottawa, who studies Pheidole ants to understand the interactions between their genes, their developmental environments, and their phenotypes. Rajee is also a HUGE ant fan! We talk with him about his 2018 paper in Nature about the mysterious organs that control these differences in development, and amazingly, how these organs could be socially regulated via pheromones.

Cover art: Keating Shahmehri

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#Art Woods #Marty Martin #Biology #Science #Natural Sciences #Art Woods and Marty Martin #Art and Marty