Wolf Blanckenhorn
Research interests
CV
Publications
Research interests
I am an evolutionary ecologist, a biological discipline that integrates research questions and methods of evolutionary biology, ecology, population biology, behavior, genetics, phylogenetics, functional morphology and physiology. With this approach we attempt to achieve a thorough understanding of the whole organism evolution of particularly suitable model organisms, primarily the widespread and economically important yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria, black scavenger flies (Sepsidae) and their close relatives. Hypotheses are generally grounded in theory and tested experimentally in the field and the laboratory or using comparative methods. This may include modeling to generate predictions. In the past I have worked with primates, birds and fish, but primarily insects. Our current research mainly focuses on the evolution of animal life histories, body size and sexual dimorphism, and phenotypic plasticity, particularly in the context of thermal adaptation.
CV
Education and professional positions
| 2004 - present | Titularprofessor, Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich |
| since 1993 | Senior Research Associate and Lecturer at the Zoological Museum, University of Zurich |
| 1991 - 1993 | NSERC International Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Concordia University, Montréal, Qc. (CDN) |
| 1990 | Ph.D. in Evolutionary Ecology, State University of New York at Albany (USA) |
| 1986 | Diploma (M.Sc.) in Biology, University of Tübingen |
| 1979 - 1986 | Study of Biology, University of Tübingen (D) and Duke University, Durham, NC (USA) |
Publications
Blanckenhorn, W.U. (2009) Causes and consequences of phenotypic plasticity in body size: the case of the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria (Diptera: Scathophagidae). In: Whitman D.W., Ananthakrishnan T.N. (eds.) Phenotypic Plasticity of Insects: Mechanism and Consequences. Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, USA.
Greminger, M.P., Schäfer, M.A., Nater, A., Blanckenhorn, W.U., Krützen, M. (2009) Development of polymorphic microsatellite markers for the dung fly (Sepsis cynipsea). Molecular Ecology Resources 9: 1554-1556.
Reim, C; Kaufmann, C; Blanckenhorn, W U (2009) Size-dependent energetics of metamorphosis in the yellow dung fly, Scathophaga stercoraria. Evolutionary Ecology Research 11: 1111-1130.
Blanckenhorn, W.U., Birrer, M., Meier, C.M, Reim, C., Teuschl, Y., Weibel, D. (2008) Size-dependent mating success at various nutritional states in the yellow dung fly. Ethology 114: 752-759.
Demont, M., Blanckenhorn, W.U. Hosken, D.J. Garner, T.W.J. (2008) Molecular and genetic differentiation across Europe in yellow dung flies. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 21: 1492-1503.
Demont, M., Blanckenhorn, W.U. (2008) Genetic differentiation in diapause response along a latitudinal cline in European yellow dung fly populations. Ecological Entomology 33: 197-201.
Moya-Laraño, J., Macías-Ordóñez, R., Blanckenhorn, W.U., Fernández-Montraveta, C. (2008) Analysing body condition: mass, volume or density? Journal of Animal Ecology 77: 1099-1108.
