I am currently back in Trinidad! Shannon and I arrived late last Wednesday (11/14) and have hit the ground running. We are running one mark-recapture experiment, a mesocosm experiment, and behavioral assays while here. The last week has mostly been spent setting up the mark-recap experiment. For this experiment, I am testing the connection between brain size and dispersal in the killifish, Rivulus hartii. This is one of a few planned experiments to test the cognitive buffer hypothesis which essentially postulates that larger brains evolve because they buffer organisms from novel challenges through behavioral flexibility. This mark-recap involves noting a fish's specific locations when caught and returning it to that specific location after processing the fish back in lab (weighing, measuring, photographing, and giving each fish a unique identifying mark). We have just finished setting up two streams with the initial capture. It has been a lot of work but hopefully we get some interesting results! In the next few days we hope to have Shannon's competition mesocosm experiments set up. Expect updates and pictures when our schedule allows!
1 Comment
|
AuthorKaitlyn Howell Archives
October 2022
Categories |