Marco Barquero

Marco Barquero - PhD

Marco Barquero – PhD

 

For my PhD I examined the evolution of signals in the Jacky Dragon and focused on the relative importance of visual cues using a combination of field-based and experimental studies. In particular, I sampled populations across the species’ geographic range to test whether signal design is influenced by habitat characteristics, temperature, species recognition, predation pressure, and sexual selection. I asked the following questions: (1) is the signal design of the Jacky Dragon stable or labile across populations?, (2) what are the selective pressures driving the evolution of signal design in this species?, (3) are lizards able to discriminate between individuals from their own and from different populations?, and (4) is the divergence of signaling behaviour a by-product of genetic differentiation?

Marco is now a lecturer at the University of Costa Rica

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the Macquarie University land, the Wattamattagal clan of the Darug nation, whose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land, since the Dreamtime.  We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.