Dr. Daniela Malgarini Perez

Research Interests

Animal behaviour is a key interface between organisms and their environments, and behavioural evolution cannot be understood independently of the context in which behaviour is expressed.
 
I’m particularly fascinated by the mesmerising diversity of animal behaviours we see in nature, both across species and within populations. A central question in evolutionary biology is what generates and maintains this variation, given the intertwined roles of social interactions, life-history traits, and the environment as selective pressures in animal behaviour evolution. I address this question by investigating the mechanisms and broader evolutionary principles underlying animal behaviour, using study systems that show high interspecific diversity or intraspecific behavioural variation (e.g. coexisting strategies).
My approach combines data from diverse sources, including online databases, museum collections, and global field collections, to conduct large-scale macroevolutionary investigations. I also design targeted field and laboratory experiments to manipulate and test the effects of social and ecological factors, and to investigate the adaptive significance of behavioural variation.
 
More specifically, I explore how sexual selection drives the diversification of courtship displays across and within species, and how trade-offs between cooperation and competition allow seemingly suboptimal strategies to persist alongside dominant ones. I also extend this framework beyond sexual selection, examining how individual- and group-level dispersal strategies coexist, vary across populations, and may be shaped by environmental conditions.
 
Together, these systems reveal that behavioural variation is not simply noise around an evolutionary optimum, but can be an evolutionarily meaningful outcome of selection acting on social context and individual trade-offs. Understanding when and why behavioural variation persist can provide a broader insight into animal behaviour evolution.
 
Beyond my science, I love using artwork to convey general research to the public. To me, visual arts is the most powerful tool to translate science to all audiences.