Elias Lab

Our Lab

The goal of the Elias Lab is to understand the mechanisms that guide behavior and how these mechanisms relate to behavioral adaptation. We use a variety of systems and tools to investigate how animals produce and process complex stimuli and the interplay between physics, behavior, and sexual selection.

Recent Publications

New collaborative paper by Robert Kallal and Hannah Wood in Integrative Organismal Biology!

New paper by Yuheng "Shirley" Sun on habitat use in Journal of Insect Behavior!

New paper by Ignacio Escalante on autotomy and habitat use in Ecology and Evolution!

New paper by Pablo Meza substrate dependent foraging success in Animal Behaviour!

New collaborative paper by Erin Brandt published on jumping in jumping spiders in the Journal of Comparative Physiology!

New paper by Chrissy Rivera published on signaling in jumping spiders in the Journal of Arachnology!

New collaborative paper by Madeline Girard published on peacock spider evolution in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society! 1, 2, 3, 4 .

New collaborative review published with Dale Broder, Robin Tinghitella, Rafael Rodriguez, and Gil Rosenthal on evolutionary novelty in Biology Letters!

New paper by Maggie Raboin published on parental care in mason spiders in Ethology!

New paper by Malcolm Rosenthal published on signaling in wolf spiders in Ethology!

New paper by Ignacio Escalante published on endurance and oxygen consumption in running harvestmen in the Journal of Comparative Physiology!

New paper by Erin Brandt published on temperature and multimodal courtship behavior in Animal Behaviour!

New paper by Ignacio Escalante published on Harvestmen biomechanics and autotomy in Scientific Reports!

New paper by Erin Brandt published on thermal physiology across a desert elevational cline in the Journal of Insect Physiology (1)!

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News

Animated video series about peacock spider evolution part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.

Congratulations to Drs. Ignacio Escalante and Benji Kessler!

Many congratulations to Dr. Ambika Kamath and her new position as Assistant Professor (!!!!!!) at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology starting in Fall 2021!

Congratulations to Dr. Erin Brandt (!) and her new post-doctoral position at the University of Western Ontario!

Congratulations to Ambika Kamath for being awarded the Jasper Loftus-Hills Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Naturalists. Ambika will be presenting her research talk at Evolution 2019 in Providence!!!!

PBS Deep Look video feature on Ignacio Escalante's research

PBS Deep Look video feature on Erin Brandt's research

Lens of Time video feature on Elias lab research

Science Friday video feature on Elias lab collaborator, Madeline Girard's peacock spider work

Carry the Radio podcast and article about Erin Brandt and research in the Elias Lab

City spiders may spin low-vibe webs. News articles on Ronald Chung-Huey Wu's work on anthropogenic effects on orb-weaving spider behavior

Jumping spiders: An evolutionary love story - News feature on jumping spider research from the Elias lab.

Congratulations to Erin Brandt for being awarded a CiBER IGERT Traineeship!

Habronattus footage filmed in the Elias Lab featured in Discovery Channel's North America Program. Clip.

How do animals show off? Discovery channel Canada segment featuring Peacock Spiders and the work of Maddie Girard

Congratulations to Erin and Chrissy for receiving Berkeley's Graduate Division Summer Award!

Research video from the Elias Lab featured on a Tonight Show skit!

Habronattus songs sound like motorcycles aka jumping spiders go viral! buzzfeed, cheez burger,

What is the science of a vibe? Discovery Channel news segment featuring the Elias lab.

BBC article on the Elias Lab's 2012 collecting trip with collegues Maddie Girard and Thomas Shahan. Maddie discovered a new Habronattus species (or at least a new hybrid!).

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