Thursday, November 14, 2024
4:30 pm
Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall 

Title: What can a Chilean rodent teach us about stress, parenting, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and climate change?

The common degu (Octodon degus) is a charismatic rodent species native to central Chile. Degus possess several characteristics that make them highly interesting for studies in behavioral ecology and physiology. For example, degus practice a unique reproductive strategy termed “plural breeding with communal care,” whereby a group of females live together and care for each other’s offspring. My past work has demonstrated that this breeding tactic may help buffer offspring from early life stress, while my recent work with Swarthmore students has examined how degus may be an effective model for studying effects of parent-child separation. Degus are also a highly interesting model species because they live in relatively dry habitats that are predicted to become more arid with climate change; currently, my students and I are examining how drought cues during early development may cause offspring to develop physiological traits that better prevent water loss. Finally, degus are also fascinating from a biomedical perspective, as degus are susceptible to diabetes, naturally develop Alzheimer’s-like disease brain pathologies, and show cognitive declines with age. My research lab is also currently examining how diabetes and Alzheimer’s-like disease changes with age, sex, and other factors.