Personal Summary

Douglas J. Emlen is a regents professor of biology at the University of Montana.  He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of the U. S. Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering. His book Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle (Henry Holt, 2014) won the Phi Beta Kappa science book of the year award in 2015, and his textbook Evolution: Making Sense of Life (co-authored with award-winning journalist Carl Zimmer, Macmillan Publishing, 3rd edition 2019), is presently adopted by more than 250 universities and colleges.  His research has been featured in The New York Times, National Public Radio’s Fresh Air and Science Friday, and YouTube’s SciShow, and he recently starred in documentaries about his work on BBC (Nature’s Wildest Weapons) and NOVA (Extreme Animal Weapons). His first narrative nonfiction book for young adults, Beetle Battles: One Scientist’s Journey of Adventure and Discovery (Roaring Brook Press) appeared on shelves in December 2019.

Education

B.A. Cornell University, 1989
Ph.D. Princeton University, 1994

Courses Taught

BIOB 272 Genetics & Evolution  (Spring)

BIOE 406 & 409 Behavior & Evolution (alt Fall)

Research Interests

I am an evolutionary biologist and Professor of Biology at the University of Montana. My research provides insights into the development and evolution of exaggerated male weaponry, such as the horns found in scarab beetles. I combine approaches from behavioral ecology, genetics, phylogenetics, and developmental biology to understand how evolution has shaped these bizarre structures. Current projects include an examination of how altered expression of appendage patterning genes contributes to species differences in the shape of horns, and how the insulin receptor (InR) pathway modulates the size of male weapons in response to the larval nutritional environment.  I also communicate the excitement of evolutionary biology to the popular press, such as National Public Radio and the New York Times, contributing to public understanding of animal diversity and morphological evolution.

Projects

MeatEater Podcast with Steve Rinella, Aug 2019: https://www.themeateater.com/listen/meateater/ep-180-teeth-horns-and-claws

Full Length Documentary for NOVA: Extreme Animal Weapons (now available on Netflix): https://www.netflix.com/title/81121179

Sci Show Interview with Hank Green, number 1: Feb 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No6mB6V1wL4)

Sci SHow Interview with Hank Green, number 2: August 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyidhY2dc5I)

Science For the People Interview: August 2015 (http://www.scienceforthepeople.ca/episodes/animal-weapons)

NPR On Point Interview November 2014 (http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/11/07/vampire-deer-musk-deer-animal-weapons)

NPR Science Friday Interview November 2014 (http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/11/14/2014/horns-claws-and-teeth-the-animal-weapons-arms-race.html)

Selected Publications

SELECTED PAPERS:

2022. Boisseau, R.P., Büscher, T.H., Klawitter, L.J., Gorb, S.N., Emlen, D.J. and Tobalske, B.W.  Multi-modal locomotor costs favor smaller males in a sexually dimorphic leaf-mimicking insect. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 22(1), p.39.

2022. Morita, S., Shibata, T.F., Nishiyama, T., Kobayashi, Y., Yamaguchi, K., Toga, K., Ohde, T., Gotoh, H., Kojima, T., Weber, J. and Salvemini, M., The draft genome sequence of Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus. bioRxiv, pp.2022-01.

2021. Del Sol, J.F., Hongo, Y., Boisseau, R.P., Berman, G.H., Allen, C.E. and Emlen, D.J. Population differences in the strength of sexual selection match relative weapon size in the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Evolution, 75(2), pp.394-413.

2020. Fea, M.P., Boisseau, R.P., Emlen, D.J. and Holwell, G.I., Cybernetic combatants support the importance of duels in the evolution of extreme weapons. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1928), p.20200254.

2019. O'Brien, Devin M., Boisseau, Romain P., Duell, Meghan, McCullough, Erin, Powell, Erin C., Somjee, Ummat, Solie, Sarah, Hickey, Anthony J., Holwell, Gregory L., Painting, Christina J., Emlen, Douglas J. Muscle mass drives cost in sexually selected arthropod weapons. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 286: 20191063.

2018.  Metz, M.C., Emlen, D.J., Stahler, D.R., MacNulty, D.R., Smith, D.W., Hebblewhite, M. Predation shapes the evolutionary traits of cervid weapons. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2: 1619–1625.

2018. Ohde, T., Morit, S., Shigenobu, S., Morita, J., Mizutani, T., Gotoh, H.,     Zinna, R. A., Nakata, M., Ito, Y., Wada, K., Kitano, Y., Yuzaki, K., Toga,     K., Mase, M., Kadota, K., Rushe, J., Corley Lavine, L., Emlen, D. J., Niimi,T. Rhinoceros beetle horn development reveals deep parallels with dung beetles. PLoS Genetics 14: e1007651.

2018. O'Brien, D. M., Allen, C. E., Van Kleeck. M. J., Hone, D., Knell, R., Knapp, A., Christiansen S., Emlen, D. J. On the evolution of extreme structures: static scaling and the function of sexually selected signals. Animal Behaviour 144: 95-108

2018. Zinna. R., Emlen, D., Lavine, L. C., Johns, A., Gotoh, H., Niimi, T., Dworkin, I. Sexual dimorphism and heightened conditional expression in a sexually selected weapon in the Asian rhinoceros beetle. Molecular Ecology 27: 5049-5072.

2017.  O’Brien, D. M., Katsuki, M., Emlen D. J. Selection on an extreme weapon in the frog legged leaf beetle (Sagra femorata). Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/evo.13336. (6)

2017. Gotoh, H., Zinna, R. A., Ishikawa, Y., Miyakawa, H., Ishikawa, A., Sugime, Y., Emlen, D. J., Lavine, L. C., Miura, T. The function of appendage patterning genes in mandible development of the sexually dimorphic stag beetle. Developmental Biology 422: 24-32. 

2016. McCullough, E., Miller, C. W., Emlen, D. J. Why sexually selected weapons are not ornaments. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 31: 742-751. (With Cover) (38)

2016. Cooley, N.L., Emlen, D. J., Woods, H. A. Self-heating by largfe insect larvae? Journal of Thermal Biology 62: 76-83.

2016. Gotoh, H., Zinna, R., Warren, I., DeNieu, M., Niimi, T., Dworkin, I., Emlen, D., Miura, T., Lavine, L. Identification and functional analyses of sex determination genes in the sexually dimorphic stag beetle Cyclommatus metallifer. BMC Genomics, 17: 250. 

2015. Lavine, L., Gotoh, H., Brent, C. S., Dworkin, I. and Emlen, D. 2014. Exaggerated trait growth in insects. Annual Review of Entomology, 60:453-72.

2014. McCullough, E., Tobalske, B., and Emlen, D. J. Structural adaptations to diverse fighting styles in sexually selected weapons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1409585111.

2014. Gotoh, H. Miyakawa, H., Ishikawa, A., Ishikawa, Y., Sugime, Y., Emlen, D. J., Lavine, L. C., and Miura, T. Developmental link between sex and nutrition: doublesex regulates sex-specific mandible growth via juvenile hormone signaling in stag beetles. PLoS Genetics, journal.pgen.1004098. (With Cover)

2013. Warren, I. A., Gotoh, H., Dworkin, I. M., Emlen, D. J. and Corley-Lavine, L. A. A general mechanism for conditional expression of exaggerated sexually- selected traits. BioEssays, 35: 889-899.

2012. Emlen, D.J., Warren, I. A., Johns, A., Dworkin, I. and Corley-Lavine, L.  A mechanism of extreme growth and reliable signaling in sexually selected  ornaments and weapons. Science, 337: 860-864. (With Cover)

Publications

BOOKS:

2019 BEETLE BATTLES: One Scientist's Journey of Adventure and Discovery (Roaring Brook/Macmillan) https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250147110

- A "narrative nonfiction" book about science for middle school readers

2019 EVOLUTION: Making Sense of Life, 3rd Edition (Macmillan Learning) 

https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/product/Evolution/p/1319079865

2014 ANIMAL WEAPONS: The Evolution of Battle (Henry Holt/ Macmillan Publishers) http://animalweapons.com

Winner: Phi Beta Kappan Science Book of the Year (2015)

Honors / Awards

Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016).

Phi Beta Kappa Science Book of the Year Award (2015), Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle (Henry Holt).

Carnegie/CASE Professor of the Year Award for the state of Montana (2015).

Distinguished Teaching Award, The University of Montana (2014).

E. O. Wilson Naturalist Award, The American Society of Naturalists (2013).

Presidential Early Career Award, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, Washington, D.C. (2002)

American Naturalists Young Investigator Prize (1997).