Volker Rudolf
@volkerrudolf.bsky.social
Community Ecology | Phenology | Ponds| Professor of Ecology & Evolution @ Rice University. Editor-In-Chief @ The American Naturalist. Dad, husband, polliwog wrangler, baker of Bavarian pretzels, chicken owner. Typos are my own.
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Can’t wait for this event! @riceuniversity.bsky.social
November 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Can’t wait for this event! @riceuniversity.bsky.social
Wrapped up tue Halloween series with Frida
November 4, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Wrapped up tue Halloween series with Frida
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Applications are currently being accepted for UBC's ✨️ Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship ✨️ (two positions!!), due Jan. 15
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities
Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2-year (2026-2028) - 2 positions OPENAt UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in resea...
biodiversity.ubc.ca
November 3, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Applications are currently being accepted for UBC's ✨️ Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship ✨️ (two positions!!), due Jan. 15
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Temporal variability in demographic rates has been viewed as detrimental to long-term fitness, but a newer idea is that it may sometimes be beneficial. Morris and Doak reassess the conditions necessary for lability to occur.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
What Is Demographic Lability and When Might We Expect to See It? | The American Naturalist
Abstract When vital rates are convex functions of environmental drivers, temporal variation in those vital rates could increase long-term stochastic fitness (so-called demographic lability). Yet no em...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Temporal variability in demographic rates has been viewed as detrimental to long-term fitness, but a newer idea is that it may sometimes be beneficial. Morris and Doak reassess the conditions necessary for lability to occur.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
What can goshawks teach us about how camouflage, behavior, and habitat protect seasonally color-molting prey? Recent findings suggest that brown prey may be less vulnerable to predation under climate change compared to white morphs.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
What can goshawks teach us about how camouflage, behavior, and habitat protect seasonally color-molting prey? Recent findings suggest that brown prey may be less vulnerable to predation under climate change compared to white morphs.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Deconstructing the morphological basis of ecogeographic variation in the hand-wing index, a widely used proxy for avian mobility, in the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
@asn-amnat.bsky.social doi.org/10.1086/739176
#birds #collectionsareessential #museums #ornithology #evosky
@asn-amnat.bsky.social doi.org/10.1086/739176
#birds #collectionsareessential #museums #ornithology #evosky
October 24, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Deconstructing the morphological basis of ecogeographic variation in the hand-wing index, a widely used proxy for avian mobility, in the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
@asn-amnat.bsky.social doi.org/10.1086/739176
#birds #collectionsareessential #museums #ornithology #evosky
@asn-amnat.bsky.social doi.org/10.1086/739176
#birds #collectionsareessential #museums #ornithology #evosky
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Reid et al. use empirically-based theoretical modeling to show how immigration rate affects the competing outcomes of evolutionary rescue, inbreeding-induced extinction vortex and migrational meltdown.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Multiple Genetic Impacts of Immigration Interact to Shape Local Population Persistence versus Extinction: Evolutionary Rescue, Inbreeding Vortex, and Migrational Meltdown | The American Naturalist
Abstract Major ongoing theoretical and empirical challenges are to predict impacts of immigration on extinction probabilities of remaining populations within fragmented habitats. Comprehensive predict...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
October 29, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reid et al. use empirically-based theoretical modeling to show how immigration rate affects the competing outcomes of evolutionary rescue, inbreeding-induced extinction vortex and migrational meltdown.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Chambers et al. found that a natural Daphnia population evolved to lose and regain tolerance for chronic salinity stress, and the timing of the phenotypic shift suggests salt tolerance bears a cost under lower salt conditions.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
October 29, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Chambers et al. found that a natural Daphnia population evolved to lose and regain tolerance for chronic salinity stress, and the timing of the phenotypic shift suggests salt tolerance bears a cost under lower salt conditions.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Lerch and Servedio develop models to understand the importance of learning for the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior. They focus on the role of the sex ratio, rectifying previously contradictory empirical and theoretical results.
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
October 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Lerch and Servedio develop models to understand the importance of learning for the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior. They focus on the role of the sex ratio, rectifying previously contradictory empirical and theoretical results.
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Boy, tell me your favorite song: early mating signal divergence in treehopper evolution
Summary & Analysis by Derek Wu of "The Means of Signal Divergence Early in a Host Shift" by Rodríguez et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Derek Wu of "The Means of Signal Divergence Early in a Host Shift" by Rodríguez et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Boy, tell me your favorite song: early mating signal divergence in treehopper evolution
<p>Read about “The Means of Signal Divergence Early in a Host Shift” by Rafael L. Rodríguez, Thomas K. Wood, Frank W. Stearns, Robert L. Snyder, Kelley J. Tilmon, Michael S. Cast, R...
www.amnat.org
October 20, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Boy, tell me your favorite song: early mating signal divergence in treehopper evolution
Summary & Analysis by Derek Wu of "The Means of Signal Divergence Early in a Host Shift" by Rodríguez et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Derek Wu of "The Means of Signal Divergence Early in a Host Shift" by Rodríguez et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
ASN Address: Pirates of the Caribbean (and Elsewhere): Three-Legged Lizards and the Study of Evolutionary Adaptation by Losos et al.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
October 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
ASN Address: Pirates of the Caribbean (and Elsewhere): Three-Legged Lizards and the Study of Evolutionary Adaptation by Losos et al.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Witness how tree frogs, masters of disguise, employ short-term color changes to evade predators. An experiment by de Alcantara Viana and colleagues demonstrates how these animals adapt to different environments in low-light conditions.
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Physiological Color Change in the Neotropical Tree Frog (Pithecopus hypochondrialis) as a Potential Mechanism of Nocturnal Camouflage | The American Naturalist
Abstract Animals employ various mechanisms for camouflage, including color change, that may facilitate habitat use. However, the extent to which these mechanisms operate under nocturnal conditions is ...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
October 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Witness how tree frogs, masters of disguise, employ short-term color changes to evade predators. An experiment by de Alcantara Viana and colleagues demonstrates how these animals adapt to different environments in low-light conditions.
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
What happens to endosymbionts and their hosts as they forego sovereignty? Athreya et al. find new reasons why an evolutionary transition might not happen, and that host-symbiont mutual dependence might evolve faster than reproductive cohesion.
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
October 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
What happens to endosymbionts and their hosts as they forego sovereignty? Athreya et al. find new reasons why an evolutionary transition might not happen, and that host-symbiont mutual dependence might evolve faster than reproductive cohesion.
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
🦎THREAD: We just published something wild in @asn-amnat.bsky.social - lizards missing entire limbs not only survive, but some appear to actually thrive in the wild?!
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
October 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
🦎THREAD: We just published something wild in @asn-amnat.bsky.social - lizards missing entire limbs not only survive, but some appear to actually thrive in the wild?!
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
This:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Absolutely yes. And I'm proud that @asn-amnat.bsky.social has led the way on this with requiring code and data editors checking code for about five years now!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Absolutely yes. And I'm proud that @asn-amnat.bsky.social has led the way on this with requiring code and data editors checking code for about five years now!
Stop treating code like an afterthought: record, share and value it
Scientists, research institutions, funders, libraries and publishers must all improve software practices.
www.nature.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:52 PM
This:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Absolutely yes. And I'm proud that @asn-amnat.bsky.social has led the way on this with requiring code and data editors checking code for about five years now!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Absolutely yes. And I'm proud that @asn-amnat.bsky.social has led the way on this with requiring code and data editors checking code for about five years now!
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Why we aren’t lizards: the evolution of endothermy through optimizing life history
Summary & Analysis by Kaleigh Remick of “The Evolution of Homeothermic Endothermy via Life History Optimization” by Rubalcaba
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Kaleigh Remick of “The Evolution of Homeothermic Endothermy via Life History Optimization” by Rubalcaba
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Why we aren’t lizards: the evolution of endothermy through optimizing life history
<p>Read about “The Evolution of Homeothermic Endothermy via Life History Optimization” by Juan G. Rubalcaba (August 2025)</p><br/><br/><p><b>Why do endotherms spend so much energy? A ...
www.amnat.org
October 8, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Why we aren’t lizards: the evolution of endothermy through optimizing life history
Summary & Analysis by Kaleigh Remick of “The Evolution of Homeothermic Endothermy via Life History Optimization” by Rubalcaba
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Kaleigh Remick of “The Evolution of Homeothermic Endothermy via Life History Optimization” by Rubalcaba
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
I'm the incoming SSE president and am behind this idea -- if you're interested in putting together an app and have questions, pls reach out!
Now accepting proposals for new Research Synthesis Working Groups! Each funded group will present a symposium at the Evolution meeting, collaborate on a publication, and establish a lasting research network. Submit your proposal by January 6: www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...
October 11, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I'm the incoming SSE president and am behind this idea -- if you're interested in putting together an app and have questions, pls reach out!
my favorite Halloween tradition started at our house again: arranging our skeletons in fun ways until Halloween. We started with this one (I think we nailed the original face expressions…).
October 8, 2025 at 10:47 PM
my favorite Halloween tradition started at our house again: arranging our skeletons in fun ways until Halloween. We started with this one (I think we nailed the original face expressions…).
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Does phenotypic plasticity promote (Baldwin effect) or hinder (Mayr) genetic adaptation? Lambert et al. mathematically show that when adaptive plasticity increases, the Baldwin effect increases, peaks then decreases as plasticity begins to mask selection.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
The Baldwin Effect Reloaded: Intermediate Levels of Phenotypic Plasticity Favor Evolutionary Rescue | The American Naturalist
Abstract Since the late 1890s up until today, how phenotypic plasticity interacts with genetic adaptation has been a debated issue. Proponents of a positive causal role of phenotypic plasticity—James ...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
September 22, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Does phenotypic plasticity promote (Baldwin effect) or hinder (Mayr) genetic adaptation? Lambert et al. mathematically show that when adaptive plasticity increases, the Baldwin effect increases, peaks then decreases as plasticity begins to mask selection.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Why do plants produce male and bisexual flowers simultaneously and shift its gender between male and hermaphroditic phases among seasons? Chen and Pannell study sex allocation and reproductive success in Pulsatilla alpina.
Now open-access ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Now open-access ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Sex Allocation and Reproductive Success in a Perennial Hermaphroditic Herb: Both Size and Timing Matter | The American Naturalist
Abstract In simultaneous hermaphrodites, resource availability and the temporal distribution of mates determine male and female fitness and optimal sex allocation. In insect-pollinated plants, we expe...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
September 22, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Why do plants produce male and bisexual flowers simultaneously and shift its gender between male and hermaphroditic phases among seasons? Chen and Pannell study sex allocation and reproductive success in Pulsatilla alpina.
Now open-access ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Now open-access ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
New synthesis available ahead of print!
"A Quantitative Survey of Cogradient and Countergradient Variation in Nature" by Albecker et al.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
"A Quantitative Survey of Cogradient and Countergradient Variation in Nature" by Albecker et al.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
September 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
New synthesis available ahead of print!
"A Quantitative Survey of Cogradient and Countergradient Variation in Nature" by Albecker et al.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
"A Quantitative Survey of Cogradient and Countergradient Variation in Nature" by Albecker et al.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
How moving – or not – as conditions change keeps species alive
Summary & Analysis by Jeremy Summers of "Partitioning the impacts of spatial-temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates" by Schreiber
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Jeremy Summers of "Partitioning the impacts of spatial-temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates" by Schreiber
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
How moving – or not – as conditions change keeps species alive
<p>Read about “Partitioning the impacts of spatial-temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates” by Sebastian J. Schreiber (Feb 2025)</p><br/>
www.amnat.org
September 24, 2025 at 10:06 PM
How moving – or not – as conditions change keeps species alive
Summary & Analysis by Jeremy Summers of "Partitioning the impacts of spatial-temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates" by Schreiber
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Jeremy Summers of "Partitioning the impacts of spatial-temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates" by Schreiber
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Are absentee parents a result of evolution?
Summary & Analysis by Julia M. Dovi of "A Life History Perspective on the Evolutionary Interplay of Sex Ratios and Parental Sex Roles" by Long et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Julia M. Dovi of "A Life History Perspective on the Evolutionary Interplay of Sex Ratios and Parental Sex Roles" by Long et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Are absentee parents a result of evolution?
<p>Read about “A Life History Perspective on the Evolutionary Interplay of Sex Ratios and Parental Sex Roles” by Xiaoyan Long, Tamas Székely, Jan Komdeur, and Franz J. Weissing (Feb...
www.amnat.org
September 24, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Are absentee parents a result of evolution?
Summary & Analysis by Julia M. Dovi of "A Life History Perspective on the Evolutionary Interplay of Sex Ratios and Parental Sex Roles" by Long et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Julia M. Dovi of "A Life History Perspective on the Evolutionary Interplay of Sex Ratios and Parental Sex Roles" by Long et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere.
Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.
Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj
Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.
Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj
October 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere.
Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.
Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj
Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.
Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj
Reposted by Volker Rudolf
We've already got hundreds of students and mentors here, sharing how the sudden policy change has derailed plans. We're looking at formally "delivering" results to NSF leadership tomorrow, please do keep sharing and spreading the word: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
September 29, 2025 at 11:18 PM
We've already got hundreds of students and mentors here, sharing how the sudden policy change has derailed plans. We're looking at formally "delivering" results to NSF leadership tomorrow, please do keep sharing and spreading the word: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/