Main research interests

The evolution of warning signals

How do species with warning signals disperse, diverge and diversify? Our aim is to use the Cotton Harlequin Bug as a model system to understand how these processes occur.

Related projects include the evolution of ontogenetic colour change in species with warning signals, specifically jewel bugs and butterflies.

Related publications:

Medina, I., Dong, C., Marquez, R., Perez, D. M., Wang, I. J., & Stuart-Fox, D. (2024). Anti-predator defences are linked with high levels of genetic differentiation in frogs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 291(2015), 20232292.

Roberts, S. M., Stuart‐Fox, D., & Medina, I. (2022). The evolution of conspicuousness in frogs: When to signal toxicity?. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 35(11), 1455-1464.

Collaborators: Devi Stuart-Fox, Matt Symonds, Megan Head and Scott Keogh

Egg and nest evolution

Nests and eggs are key parts of the extended phenotype of birds and our group investigates how these ‘structures’ have evolved, using as study system Australian passerines but also analysing data at macro-evolutionary scale. Surprisingly, there is little known about the broad scale evolutionary drivers of nest architecture.

We do experiments in the field and use information from museums to understand how nests and eggs adapt to their environment and why they are so variable.

Related publications:

Colombo, S., Newman, K. D., Langmore, N. E., Taylor, C. J., & Medina, I. (2024). The role of climatic variables on nest evolution in tanagers. Ecology and Evolution, 14(4), e11168.

Medina, I., Perez, D., Silva, A., Cally, J., Leon, C., Maliet, O., & Quintero, I. (2021). Nest architecture is linked with ecological success in songbirds. Ecology Letters.

Collaborators: Susan Healy, Devi Stuart-Fox, Janet Gardner, Michael Kearney and Naomi Langmore.

Brood parasites

Brood parasites like cuckoos and cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other species and we are interested in understanding how this behaviour affects hosts and parasites at a macroevolutionary scale.

Related publications:

Langmore, N. E., Grealy, A., Noh, H. J., Medina, I., Skeels, A., Grant, J., ... & Holleley, C. E. (2024). Coevolution with hosts underpins speciation in brood-parasitic cuckoos. Science, 384(6699), 1030-1036.

Medina, I., Kilner, R. & Langmore, N.E. (2020) From micro- to macro-evolution: brood parasitism as a driver of phenotypic diversity in birds. Current Zoology 66(5): 515-526

Collaborators: Naomi Langmore