James T. Stroud
@jameststroud.bsky.social
Asst Prof @ Georgia Tech. Evolutionary ecology using lizards 🦎🦎🦎 most interested in connecting micro-scale processes to macro-scale patterns
Together, these challenge Arnold's classic morphology→performance→fitness paradigm - a foundational framework for understanding adaptation and evolution by natural selection.
The pipeline from traits to fitness...perhaps way messier in the wild than we expect?
Nature is complicated! 🧬🦎
(14/n)
The pipeline from traits to fitness...perhaps way messier in the wild than we expect?
Nature is complicated! 🧬🦎
(14/n)
October 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Together, these challenge Arnold's classic morphology→performance→fitness paradigm - a foundational framework for understanding adaptation and evolution by natural selection.
The pipeline from traits to fitness...perhaps way messier in the wild than we expect?
Nature is complicated! 🧬🦎
(14/n)
The pipeline from traits to fitness...perhaps way messier in the wild than we expect?
Nature is complicated! 🧬🦎
(14/n)
Why does this matter to our understanding of evolution?
These three-legged lizards reveal 4 key principles about how natural selection might ACTUALLY work in the wild.
Let's break them down... 🧵👇
(some of these could be controversial)
(9/n)
These three-legged lizards reveal 4 key principles about how natural selection might ACTUALLY work in the wild.
Let's break them down... 🧵👇
(some of these could be controversial)
(9/n)
October 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Why does this matter to our understanding of evolution?
These three-legged lizards reveal 4 key principles about how natural selection might ACTUALLY work in the wild.
Let's break them down... 🧵👇
(some of these could be controversial)
(9/n)
These three-legged lizards reveal 4 key principles about how natural selection might ACTUALLY work in the wild.
Let's break them down... 🧵👇
(some of these could be controversial)
(9/n)
The secret: compensation. Using @deeplabcut.bsky.social, we found injured lizards altered their gaits.
Some showed exaggerated body undulation (serpentine movement). Others cranked up stride frequency. Different strategies, same result: maintaining speed despite missing limbs! 📊🔬
(7/n)
Some showed exaggerated body undulation (serpentine movement). Others cranked up stride frequency. Different strategies, same result: maintaining speed despite missing limbs! 📊🔬
(7/n)
October 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The secret: compensation. Using @deeplabcut.bsky.social, we found injured lizards altered their gaits.
Some showed exaggerated body undulation (serpentine movement). Others cranked up stride frequency. Different strategies, same result: maintaining speed despite missing limbs! 📊🔬
(7/n)
Some showed exaggerated body undulation (serpentine movement). Others cranked up stride frequency. Different strategies, same result: maintaining speed despite missing limbs! 📊🔬
(7/n)