Feb 28 2023

EE Seminar: Graduate Student Presentations

February 28, 2023

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Location

SELE 4289

Calendar

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Please join us on Feb. 28th for presentations from E&E graduate students.

Jessica Montoya (Salles Lab) will present "Social Dominance Hierarchies in All Female Groups of Carollia perspicillata"

Abstract: Bats are social mammals that live in large groups ranging from a couple dozen to millions of individuals. Close knit animal groups can form dominance hierarchies in order to reduce aggression over shared resources. These hierarchies are characterized by a ranking based on access to resources. The potential for hierarchical structures within bat social groups has not been widely studied despite there being anecdotal evidence of hierarchical structures within various species of bat. One reason for the lack of focus on this question is the fact that many bat species live in fission-fusion groups, where the group composition varies daily. In our study we focused on Carollia perspicillata, which is a harem forming species of bat with female groups ranging between 5-18 females. In this study, we observe Carollia sp. within all female groups to determine if a dominance hierarchy will form based on roost position. The center of the roost is preferred by females due to greater thermoregulation. We took video and audio recordings and quantified by time spent at roost position, aggressive interactions, and social calls between the females. Ongoing analysis aims to explore the hypothesis that female groups of Carollia sp. follow a near-linear dominance hierarchy, with more established females having better roost positions than juveniles or newcomers.

Natalia Ruiz-Vargas (Mason-Gamer Lab) will present "Re-examining relationships in a group of Dominican Pitcairnia"
Abstract: Pitcairnia is a large genus in the Bromeliaceae family present in Central- and South America, the Caribbean, and one species in West Africa. All of the Caribbean species are endemic to the region and most are island endemics. Five species have been described for Hispaniola, but a re-examination of these taxa is warranted. Samples were collected throughout the Dominican Republic, deposited in silica gel, and kept at room temperature until RNA was extracted 3-6 months later. This novel source of RNA opens the door for a wider use of transcriptomic techniques for species and population level studies. Although more analysis with increased sampling and expansion into Haiti are needed, our results suggest that this group should be circumscribed as one-morphologically diverse- species.
Ashley Rasmussen (Gonzalez-Meler Lab) will share her work with CROCUS: Community Research on Climate and Urban Science.

Contact

Emily Beaufort
ebeauf2@uic.edu

Date posted

Jan 12, 2023

Date updated

Feb 23, 2023