Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Closer to a Start!

In my reading, I came across the marine isopod Paracerceis sculpta, a species with more than one coexisting reproductive strategy. The males of this species differ in sizes: large (alpha), medium (beta) and small (gemma), and each of these have its own behavioral phenotype (Alcock, pg338). There are different kinds of male reproductive success for these three types of males, and that fact interests me. However, it is difficult to find a species that exhibits a distinct behavior in the reproduction process (e.g. male-male competition). Even though the sponge isopod would be an ideal organism, it will be challenging to set up for its experiment, hence why another organism that fits the criteria should be use. Insects first came to my mind as the isopod vaguely resembles sowbugs or pillpugs. For the next meeting, I am to research about pill bugs, their reproductive behaviors (if any) and how they reproduce.

2 comments:

  1. Scientific names need special formatting. They are usually italicized. If you cannot do that in your blog, add quotes (ex. "Drosophila").

    Wonderful to include a reference. The first time you do this in your blog, include a full citation.

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  2. Good reading your regular entries and seeing how you are narrowing down your focus. fun and informative for the reader!

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