The 19–49 My-old obligate mutualism between Macrotermitinae termites and the Termitomyces fungus is an example of an ancient agriculture system in which Termitomyces is cultivated by termites for nutrition. Termites, in turn, keep other parasitic fungi like the parasitic weed Pseudoxylaria at bay. Unraveling the proximate mechanisms used in fungal cultivar protection is central to understanding the evolutionary stability of these farming mutualisms. We investigated the role of abiotic factors, antifungal chemicals and hygienic behaviours used by termites to keep their fungal gardens free from such parasitic fungi. Our results show the important role of abiotic factors such as termite mound temperature and CO2 in decreasing parasitic fungus growth. Using novel assays we also found that termites can display a differential behavioural response towards mutualistic and parasitic fungi and that this behaviour is coupled with antifungal activity. These results not only shed new light on how the ecology of these fungi is affected by their host but also reveal the mechanistic basis that may contribute fundamentally to the evolutionary stability of this ancient mutualism.

I use island systems to study ecology and evolution of birds in natural landscapes. Mountaintop habitats, such as on sky islands in different parts of the world, also form islands for species adapted to these specific habitats. It is imaginable that on these sky islands, valleys interrupt species distributions and can lead to range fragmentation, differentiation, and ultimately speciation on an evolutionary time scale. However, there can often be a disconnect between processes at an evolutionary time compared to the contemporary. Many tropical habitats have faced high levels of anthropogenic deforestation resulting in habitat loss and fragmentation. Processes operating at this recent ecological timescale may lead to changes in gene flow patterns and bird song dialects as possible precursors to speciation.

There are very few systems that allow us to investigate both evolutionary and contemporary processes simultaneously. The Western Ghats Shola Sky Islands are one such system where deep, wide valleys (such as Palghat Gap) are known to cause genetic differentiation in varied taxa, while at a smaller scale almost 80% of the mountaintop landscape has been modified by humans.
This system allows us to ask if species adapted to such evolutionary patchiness are impacted by recent anthropogenic patchiness; and what the drivers of these different processes may be.
Across the larger landscape of the Western Ghats, I found a nested impact with the depth and width of valleys impacting species differently, possibly due to the interaction of topography and paleoclimate. This study led to the description of two new genera of birds, with endemic radiations of seven species.
At a localised spatial scale, population genetic data of one endemic passerine across the landscape revealed higher contemporary differentiation relative to historic differentiation in anthropogenic fragments, despite the species’ ability to historically traverse shallow valleys. Simulations confirm recent isolation in the anthropogenic fragments of Western Ghats. These fragments are thus akin to islands within natural islands of montane habitat.
Birdsong, analogous to human language, is a cultural trait that changes rapidly and can be transmitted horizontally, across generations. In some passerine species, songs could thus provide greater resolution of isolation. Analysis of song data at a similar scale (to genetic data) reveals that songs have also changed rapidly in this system. Changes in spectral traits appear to correlate with recent anthropogenic isolation while syntax changes correlate with historic isolation.
I plan to conduct further research, hoping to expand to other landscapes, examining underlying causes for the emergent patterns that I have discovered in this landscape.

Organised by Dr. Praveen Karanth Lab

This is a six day intensive course, which would entail lectures on phylogeny, biogeography, ecology and behaviour using herpetofaunal model systems. Selected applicants from across the country can also attend lab sessions dealing with hands-on training in taxonomy of reptiles & amphibians as well as basics of phylogenetic tree building using molecular data. The outdoor sessions include field techniques and basic photography.

The workshop starts at 9 AM on November 1st and goes on till 6:30 PM each day, till November 6th.

Venomous animals have fascinated humans for millennia, and for good reasons. Injection of even miniscule amounts of certain venom components can result in rapid paralysis and death. The evolution of venom, one of nature’s most complex biochemical concoctions, has underpinned the predatory success and diversification of numerous animal lineages. Such a cocktail of pharmacologically active peptides, proteins, salts, and organic molecules is often employed for both predation and defence by the secreting animal. I study animal venoms as a model system to understand various aspects in evolutionary biology, molecular biology and ecology. I have studied venoms across the breadth of the animal kingdom, including those of snakes, lizards, cnidarians (jellyfish, sea anemone, corals and hydras) – the first venomous animals, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, insects, vampire bats and coleoids (octopus, cuttlefish and squids). I employ an interdisciplinary approach, spanning omics (transcriptomics, proteomics and genomics), bioinformatics (e.g., simulations, evolutionary rate estimations, sequence and phylogenetic reconstructions) and molecular biology (e.g., transgenesis) in order to uncover i) the molecular and biochemical diversity in animal venoms; ii) the evolutionary origin and diversification of toxic protein families and the toxin- delivery apparatus; iii) the role of environmental and ecological factors in driving the evolution of venom and the venomous animals; iv) the molecular mechanisms of causing toxicity; and v) the evolution of venom resistance in prey animals. Most importantly, my research aims at utilizing the aforementioned information for the production of highly specific, efficient and cost effective next-generation antivenoms in India, where snakebite has become a socio-economical disease.

Existence of geographical clines have equally attracted ecologists and evolutionary
biologists. In recent years our understanding of geographical clines has immensely improved.
The most promising pieces of evidence come from studies showing phenotypic change
observed over seasonal time scales i.e. temporal variation. Temporal variation in selection
pressures could be at least partially responsible for the generation of latitudinal clines that
appear so pervasive in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the connection between temporal
and spatial evolutionary dynamics of life histories remain to be comprehensively tested in
nature. Increasing recognition that evolutionary processes can operate on ecological time
scales has generated growing interest in eco-evolutionary dynamics, where evolutionary
change alters ecological interactions, which in turn, feed-back to alter subsequent
evolutionary change. Much of the interest in this process stems from the hypothesized ability
of reciprocal feedbacks between ecology and evolution to influence how populations respond
to environmental change. Nonetheless, our understanding of this important relationship is in
its infancy. Progress is hindered by the difficulty of manipulating rapid evolution in field
populations, limited molecular resources to understand adaptation, and the inherent difficulty
of quantifying how the effects of evolution on ecological dynamics feed-back to affect
subsequent evolutionary change. My recent research work uses orchard populations of D.
melanogaster as a model system to understand how eco-evolutionary dynamics influence
adaptation to a seasonally changing environment. The work explores the population dynamic
consequences of manipulating fly evolution in tree-scale field mesocosms with an innovative
offspring replacement methodology. Parallel experimental manipulations quantify the
importance of temperature and density as drivers of rapid evolution. Utilizing the strengths
of D. melanogaster, the phenotypes, and genomic regions that underlie the adaptive response
to these and other seasonally changing factors are identified and evaluated for functional
significance

We have made a conservation film "Bastion of the Giants" that looks at the picturesque, unique and bio-diverse wetland wildlife habitats of North Eastern India fed by the mighty river Brahmaputra and its tributaries and supporting a tremendous wealth of flora and fauna, among them the Asian Elephant; a flagship species that needs large areas to roam in, thus ensuring protection of large forest areas, but also leading to man-animal conflicts as a large portion of the world's exploding human population lives around these ancient elephant forests, rapidly converting these forests into human use. The film has already won prestigious International Awards like the "Isla Earth Conservancy Award of Merit" by the Catalina Island Conservancy off Los Angeles, "The Best Nature Film Award" at The Barents Ecology film Festival 2016, Russia, "The Best Feature Film of 2015" at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival at New York, "The Audience Award for Best Conservation Film" at the Catalina Film Festival, 2016, off Los Angeles, apart from being a Finalist for the "WWF Malaysia Award 2015" at the Kuala Lampur Eco Festival, the official selection at France's prestigious "Festival international du film Ornithologique de Ménigoute" and Official Selection and screened/being screened at over 15 international film festival across the world including Germany, Finland, Russia, France, Malaysia, USA, Hungary, Estonia, Canada. Some of the festivals being Matsalu Nature Film Festival-Estonia, Wild Vaasa Film Festival-Finland, Naturvision Film Festival-Germany, Kala Ghoda Film Festival-Mumbai, Godollo International Nature Film Festival-Hungary, Columbia Gorge Film Festival-USA, Cinema on the Bayou Film festival,-Louisiana, USA, Awareness Film Festival-Los Angeles,Bushwick Film Festival-New York, Muskoka Film Festival-Ontario, Canada, Lake Erie Arts and Film Festival.

Kin selection theory has enjoyed much success with its original problems like the evolution of the eusocial insects, but it has also predicted many new phenomena. I highlight three recent examples from our lab (1) The slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum cooperates with kin but also recognizes non-kin and expresses conflict genes that evolve rapidly. (2) In the seeds of flowering plants, conflict between the mother, endosperm, and embryo generates evolutionary arms races. (3) Honeybee workers are pushed by their paternally imprinted genes to lay eggs. In the last part of the talk I argue that similarly fruitful theory may be available for interactions between species, because they can be understood in terms closely parallel to Hamilton’s kin selection rule.

Spoken language as well as music are considered uniquely human traits but
share a number of striking parallels with birdsong. Comparing the
biologically tractable cognitive abilities necessary for language, music
and birdsong is a fruitful endeavor to identify which properties are shared
and which are unique to each. I will start with an attempt to disambiguate
and operationally define different key aspects of language, music and
birdsong, addressing structural and functional aspects. I will then review
some of our recent behavioural data on rhythm, ‘syntax’ and multimodal
communication in songbirds. I will end by briefly highlighting the neural
and molecular similarities underlying human speech and birdsong, including
our findings on the relevance of the FoxP2 gene for both.

Allan Octavian Hume, known for founding the Indian National Congress, is a major figure in Indian ornithology. He privately built up one of the largest collections of bird specimens from the Indian Subcontinent and founded Stray Feather, the first regional ornithology journal. His vast collection was gifted to the then British Museum (the natural history section is now the Natural History Museum) and are overseen by Dr Prys-Jones and his colleagues at Tring.
A recent biographical note on Hume by the speaker can be found here
http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/cns26/njc/Papers/Collar%2520%26%2520Prys-Jone...
Also see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Octavian_Hume

we have made a conservation film “Bastion of the Giants” .that looks at the picturesque, unique and bio-diverse wetland wildlife habitats of North Eastern India fed by the mighty river Brahmaputra and its tributaries and supporting a tremendous wealth of flora and fauna, among them the Asian Elephant; a flagship species that needs large areas to roam in, thus ensuring protection of large forest areas, but also leading to man-animal conflicts as a large portion of the world’s exploding human population lives around these ancient elephant forests, rapidly converting these forests into human use.

The film has already won prestigious International Awards like the “Isla Earth Conservancy Award of Merit” by the Catalina Island Conservancy off Los Angeles, “The Best Nature Film Award” at The Barents Ecology film Festival 2016, Russia, “The Best Feature Film of 2015” at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival at New York, “The Audience Award for Best Conservation Film” at the Catalina Film Festival, 2016, off Los Angeles, apart from being a Finalist for the “WWF Malaysia Award 2015” at the Kuala Lumpur Eco Festival, the official selection at France’s prestigious “Festival international du film Ornithologique de Ménigoute” and Official Selection and screened/being screened at over 15 international film festival across the world including Germany, Finland, Russia, France, Malaysia, USA, Hungary, Estonia, Canada. Some of the festivals being Matsalu Nature Film Festival-Estonia, Wild Vaasa Film Festival-Finland, Naturvision Film Festival-Germany, Kala Ghoda Film Festival-Mumbai, Godollo International Nature Film Festival-Hungary, Columbia Gorge Film Festival-USA, Cinema on the Bayou Film festival,-Louisiana, USA, Awareness Film Festival-Los Angeles, Bushwick Film Festival-New York, Muskoka Film Festiva-Ontario, Canada, Lake ErieArts and Film Festival.

Please do find the official trailer link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klMl81BQ9sg