I’m Pablo Lavaniegos, a former MSc student working on parental care evolution in birds. I’m deeply interested in the evolution of behavioral traits and their intricate relationship with life history and phenotypic traits, as well as how behavioral diversity Is shaped and maintained throughout the course of evolution.
During my MSc project, I estimated the rates of evolutionary transitions between avian parental care modes and the ancestral state of parental care of modern birds. To achieve my research goals, I implemented phylogenetic comparative methods accounting for potential statistical biases caused by phylogenetic uncertainty and diversification processes. Some interesting findings from my research project are that male parental care is the most likely ancestral state for modern birds, and that transitions between parental care modes are Best described by a “stepping-stone” model, with gradual changes typically involving biparental care.
