Zeit: 26.11.09, 18.15 Uhr
The ant genus Cardiocondyla - a model for the study of social evolution
A common problem in biology is the vast number of species that serve as proposed model systems. However, unlike "true" models such as Drosophila or C. elegans, such species rarely qualify as representatives for certain functions but are rather suited to address species-specific questions. The same is true in the study of ants. This is not wrong, but it slows down research. It may take decades to synthesize the available information in order to advance on more generalized insights. In this talk I want to emphasize the role of a genus of ants to serve as a model to address a multitude of topics, such as sexual selection, the genomics underlying behaviour and evo-devo aspects.
