Harald Parzer
Graduate Student
BACKGROUND
“Field work”: collecting cow dung.
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Ever since I was a child, I have been interested in biology. Well, in animals. Like every serious biologist, I went through a large to small animal phase. I noticed that small animals might not be as cute as pandas and slow lorises are, but they show wonderful behaviours and patterns which can be more readily observed at home. My high school teacher then added another interest: evolution. I was shocked to learn that “the good for the species-idea”, held by so many biologists, was difficult to support. From this, I realized that the world is not necessarily as it seems or at least not necessarily as we are told it is. This led me to my decision to study biology, which I did at the University of Salzburg, the University of Hong Kong and the University of Wuerzburg, Germany and eventually at the University of Vienna, where I would get a Master’s degree. There, I worked with Prof. Hans Nemschekal on the mating structure of a soldier beetle, Rhagonycha fulva for my Master’s Thesis. I was able to show that individuals do not mate randomly, but exhibit a mating pattern that we called “correlative mating”. whereby pairs undergo size assortative mating, but not on the same traits (for example, larger winged males mated with smaller legged females).
I moved to Indiana to work with Prof. Armin Moczek, whose fascinating research on dung beetles caught my interest. Since then, I focused on the evolution of insect genitalia.
RESEARCH
Onthophagus taurus, large male: arrows indicating copulatory organ, front tibia and head horns. |
Insect genitalia are not the obscure topic somebody might choose, but show unique morphological patterns when compared with other traits. For example, most insect genitalia grow essentially independently of body-size, meaning that small males exhibit about the same sized genitalia as their larger conspecifics. Furthermore, most insect species can only be identified by the (male) genitalia. My research revolves around the latter: why do insect genitalia diverge and what are, if any, the consequences of it?
Specific research questions:
1. Can insect genitalia evolve through pleiotropic effects?
Here, I was able to show that investment into secondary sexual structures (horns) might drive the evolution of genitalia in dung beetles (Parzer and Moczek, 2008).
2. How fast are insect genitalia evolving?
To answer this question, I am working on the evolutionary rate of shape and size of dung beetle genitalia (Parzer, Polly and Moczek, in prep.).
3. What are the effects of mutations on genitalia?
In collaboration with David Houle, I am looking into the effects of mutations on genitalia by using the wonderful mutation accumulation lines that David Houle (Florida State University) created.
4. What are the consequences of genitalic divergence?
For this, I am utilizing a selection experiment, trying to determine the importance of genitalic divergence on the establishment of reproductive barriers.
TEACHING
In addition to my research, I am a teaching assistant and have taught a wide variety of classes, including an Introductionary Biology Lab, Entomology, Honours Evolution and most recently Human Physiology with Prof. Whitney Schlegel. Whitney Schlegel strongly shaped my interest in teaching and pedagogy in general, which lead to a collaboration in which we are conducting research regarding course structure and whether team work and case-based learning enhances student understanding.
