PIT-tagging passerines – think twice prior to choosing the place
Does the location of a PIT-tag affect a small bird’s fitness?
About the author
Krista N Oswald
Krista Oswald lived in South Africa during 2015-2020, collecting data on Rockjumpers, completing an MSc and just recently finishing her PhD. She lived and breathed Rockjumpers, spending half her time at Blue Hill Nature Reserve, and despite being Canadian now knows more about this South African endemic than nearly anyone else. Her thesis involved examinations of Rockjumper physiology (adult heat responses and juvenile comparisons), behaviour, reproductive success (nest failure as discussed here, and provisioning), and population genetics. She is now working on publishing the remaining data while beginning to pursue post-doctoral opportunities.
About the author
Anthony Evlambiou
Anthony A Evlambiou is a Masters student at Rhodes University in the Department of Zoology and Entomology. His work is on the Acontias genus of burrowing legless skinks with his current project titled ‘Body morphologies of Acontias legless skinks are linked with biome characteristics in South Africa’ looks at whether isolated populations have become separate species due to their low dispersal ability. As all the species of Acontias have very similar appearances new ways of identifying species are also being looked into. Work is also being done to link head-shape to the environment in which the creatures are found.
About the author
Ângela Ribeiro
Ângela M. Ribeiro was a Marie Curie post-doc at Natural History Museum of Denmark. She is an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in understanding the environment-organism linkages at different scales (from behaviour to local adaptation) with a keen interest in arid-zones.
About the author
Ben Smit
Ben Smit was a former lecturer and researcher in animal physiology at Nelson Mandela University. Currently, he is a senior lecturer at Rhodes University studying ecological and evolutionary physiology. His main interest relates to the role of thermal physiology in driving local adaptation, and answers these questions by integrating animal behavioural ecology, reproductive ecology and evolutionary history with comparative physiology.