Biology Seminar Series: "The Evolution of Extreme Weapons"

Lessons from a Rhinoceros Beetle

Hear from Douglas Emlen, Montana Regents Professor of Biology at the University of Montana and Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, about extreme animal weapons as part of the Biology Seminar Series.

What limits the size of nature’s most extreme structures? For weapons like tusks, antlers, or beetle horns, one possibility is a tradeoff associated with mechanical levers: as the output arm of the lever system gets longer — the antler or the beetle horn — it should also get weaker. Emlen discusses results from field studies of multiple natural populations of beetles exploring how changes to the mating system contribute to population-differences in the strength of selection acting on male horns, potentially explaining population differences in the length of the horns. 

Professor Emlen studies “extreme” animal weapons including antlers and, especially, the outlandish horns of rhinoceros beetles. His first book, Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle (Henry Holt 2014), compared arms races in animal weapons to those that occur in manufactured military weapon technologies, and was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Science Book of the Year prize in 2015. His second book, Beetle Battles: One Scientist's Journey of Adventure and Discovery (Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 2019), is narrative nonfiction for middle school readers; and his textbook Evolution: Making Sense of Life (Macmillan Learning) co-authored with New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer, is currently adopted at more than 300 colleges and universities. Emlen’s research has been featured in outlets including The New York Times, National Public Radio’s Fresh Air and Science Friday, and YouTube’s SciShow and MeatEater, and he recently starred in documentaries about his work for the BBC (Nature’s Wildest Weapons) and NOVA (Extreme Animal Weapons). Emlen is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016) and the National Academy of Sciences (2023).

Refreshments will be served.