Publications

Rowland, J. M. and Emlen, D. J. Two thresholds, three male forms result in facultative male trimorphism in beetles.  Science 323: 773-776. (2009) [PDF]

 

Emlen, D. J. The evolution of animal weapons.  Annual Review of Ecology, Systematics, and Evolution 39: 387-413 (2008)

Link to PDF: The Evolution of Animal Weapons - Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 39(1):387 - Full Text.
(Note: Annual Reviews ask that we post this link, and not the PDF. If you have any trouble accessing this paper, please email me and I will send you the PDF)

Simmons, L. W. and Emlen, D. J. No fecundity cost of female secondary sexual trait expression in the horned beetle Onthophagus sagittarius. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 21: 1227-1235 (2008) (with Cover) [PDF]

Frankino, W. A., Emlen, D. J. and Shingleton, A. W. Experimental approaches to studying the evolution of animal form: The shape of things to Come. In: Experimental Evolution: Concepts, Methods, and Applications of Selection Experiments. T. Garland, Jr. and M. R. Rose, editors. University of California Press (2008) [PDF]

Simmons, L. W., Emlen, D. J., and Tomkins, J. Sperm competition games between sneaks and guards: A comparative analysis using dimorphic male beetles. Evolution 61: 2684-2692 (2007) (with Cover) [PDF]

Emlen, D. J., Corley Lavine, L., and Ewen-Campen, B.  On the origin and evolutionary diversification of beetle horns.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: S8661-S8668. (2007) [PDF].

Ambrose, H.W.A. III., Ambrose, K. P., Emlen, D. J. and Bright, K. L.   A Handbook of Biological Investigation, Seventh Edition. Hunter Textbooks Inc., Winston Salem ,N.C.  (2007) [link to Hunter Textbooks]

Shingleton, A. W., Frankino, W. A., Flatt, T., Nijhout, H. F. and Emlen D. J.  Size and shape: The developmental regulation of static allometry in insects.  BioEssays 29: 536-548. (2007). [PDF]

Simmons, L. W. and Emlen, D. J. Evolutionary trade-off between weapons and testes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 16346–16351. (2006) [PDF]

Faculty of 1000 rating of 6 "must read" by Gabriele Sorci [PDF]

Emlen, D. J. and Philips, T. K. Phylogenetic evidence for an association between tunneling behavior and the evolution of horns in dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae). Coleopterists Society Monograph 5 : 47–56. (2006) [PDF]

Emlen, D. J., Szafran, Q., Corley, L.W. and Dworkin, I. Insulin signaling and limb-patterning: Candidate pathways for the origin and evolutionary diversification of beetle horns. Heredity 97: 179-191. (2006) [PDF]

Faculty of 1000 review rating of "recommended" by Russell Bonduriansky  [PDF]

Emlen, D. J., Marangelo, J., Ball, B. and Cunningham, C. W.  Diversity in the weapons of sexual selection: Horn evolution in the beetle genus Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Evolution 59: 1060-1084 (2005) (with Cover). [PDF]

Faculty of 1000 review rating of 6: “must read” by Edmund Brodie, June 2005 [PDF].

Emlen, D. J., Hunt, J., and Simmons, L. W. Evolution of sexual dimorphism and male dimorphism in the expression of beetle horns: phylogenetic evidence for modularity, evolutionary lability, and constraint. American Naturalist 166: S42-S68 (2005). [PDF]

Emlen, D. J. The role of genes and the environment in the expression and evolution of animal alternative tactics. In: Alternative Reproductive Tactics: an Integrative Approach. R. Oliveira, M. Taborsky and H. J. Brockmann, eds., Cambridge University Press. [PDF]

 

Hartfelder, K. and Emlen, D. J. Endocrine control of insect polyphenism. Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science. Volume 3: 651-703 (2005) (PDF)

 

Emlen, D. J. and Allen, C. E. Genotype to Phenotype: Physiological control of trait size and scaling in insects. Integrative and Comparative Biology 43: 617-634. (2004) (PDF)

Ambrose, H.W.A. III., Ambrose, K. P., Emlen, D. J. and Bright, K. L.   A Handbook of Biological Investigation, Sixth Edition. Hunter Textbooks Inc., Winston Salem ,N.C.  (2002) [link to Hunter Textbooks]

Moczek, A. P., Hunt, J., Emlen, D. J. and Simmons, L. W. Threshold evolution in exotic populations of a polyphenic beetle.  Evolutionary Ecology Research  4:   587- 601. (2002) (PDF)

Emlen, D. J. Costs and the diversification of exaggerated animal structures. Science 291: 1534-1536. (2001) (PDF)

Emlen, D. J. and Nijhout, H. F. Hormonal Control of male horn length dimorphism in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): A second critical    period of sensitivity to juvenile hormone. Journal of Insect Physiology. 47: 1045-1054. (2001)  (PDF)

Emlen, D. J. Integrating development with evolution: A case study with beetle horns. BioScience. 50: 403-418. (2000)  (with Cover) (PDF)

Emlen, D. J. Dig it, and they will come: A female dung beetle in her tunnel is sure to attract suitors big and small. Natural History May Issue: 64-69. (2000)  (PDF) (Link)

Emlen, D. J. and Nijhout, H. F. The development and evolution of exaggerated morphologies in insects.  Annual Review of Entomology. 45: 661-708. (2000) (PDF)

Moczek, A. P. and Emlen, D. J. Male horn dimorphism in the scarab beetle Onthophagus taurus: do alternative tactics favor alternative phenotypes? Animal Behaviour. 59: 459-466. (2000) (PDF)

Stern, D.L.S. and Emlen, D.J. The developmental basis for allometry in insects.  Development 126: 1091-1101.  (1999) (with Cover)
(PDF)

Emlen, D.J, and Nijhout, H. F. Hormonal control of male horn length dimorphism in the horned beetle Onthophagus taurus.  Journal of Insect Physiology 45: 45-53. (1999)  (PDF)

Moczek, A, and Emlen, D.J. Proximate determination of male horn dimorphism in the beetle Onthophagus taurus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 12: 27-37. (1999) (PDF)

Nijhout, H.F and Emlen, D.J.  Competition among body parts in the development and   evolution of insect morphology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95: 3685-3689. (1998) (PDF)

Emlen, D.J. Alternative reproductive tactics and male dimorphism in the horned beetle Onthophagus acuminatus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 41: 335-341. (1997) (PDF)

Emlen, D.J. Diet alters male horn allometry in the beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 264: 567-574. (1997) (PDF)

Emlen, D.J.  Artificial selection on horn length-body size allometry in the horned beetle Onthophagus acuminatus. Evolution 50: 1219-1230. (1996) (PDF)

Emlen, D.J. Dung beetles unaffected by army and swarm. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 69 (suppl.) 405-406;  (1996) George Eickwort memorial edition.

Emlen, D.J. Environmental control of horn length dimorphism in the beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 256: 131-136. (1994) (PDF)

Emlen, D.J. Evolution of male horn length dimorphism in the dung beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Doctoral Dissertation, Princeton University, June 1994; UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, MI.

Emlen, D.J. New method for observing underground and soil surface behaviors. Coleopterists Bulletin, 47: 243-244. (1993)

Emlen, D.J.  Observations of a high altitude population of the Sage stem-galling flyEutreta diana (Diptera: Tephritidae) and its associated parasitoids. J. Kans. Ent. Soc., 65: 203 - 207.(1992)

Emlen, S.T., Demong, N. J. and Emlen, D.J. Experimental induction of infanticide in female Wattled Jacanas. Auk, 106: 1-7. (1989)

Articles about Emlen’s Research:

Science News For Kids, "Little Beetle, Big Horns" by Roberta Kwok, May 2007

SEED Magazine, “On extravagant proportions” by P.Z. Myers, June 2007.

Pour La Science, December 2006

The Telegraph (India), "Horns of a dilemma:", By Monojit DasGupta, December 4, 2006

Newsweek (Poland), November 11, 2006

SciTini, " Big Horns or Large Testes: A Beetle's Dilemma:", By Karen Wiens, November 6, 2006

India News Channel, "Bigger not necessarily the better when it comes to sexual conquests!", October 25, 2006

ScienceNOW, "Horns vs. heredity:", October 24, 2006

Science News, "Horns vs. Sperm: Male beetles on tight equipment budget" by Susan Milius, October 21, 2006

ABC News Online, "Horny beetles have tiny testes:" By Judy Skatsoon, October 17, 2006

South Asia News, (October 17, 2006)

National Geographic Online, "Big Testes or Big Horns? It's One or the Other for Male Beetles:" By John Roach, October 16, 2006

The Why? Files, Science Behind the News, “Bizarre Beetle Battles” by Paroma Basu,   October 14, 2005.

The Loom (“An inordinate fondness for beetle horns” by Carl Zimmer, June 2005)

The Princeton Journal of Science and Technology (“Digging for answers” by Wenfei Tong, May 2004).

The New York Times Science Times (“A lance, a lunch, or a mate: All for the price of a horn” by Donald McNeil Jr., April 27, 2004)

Smithsonian: Close Encounters of the Sneaky Kind, by Richard Conniff, July (2003).

 

Nature Australia (Autumn 2002).

Research View, Beetle Battles: The strange world of horned combatants, by Cary Shimek, Spring 2001;

This Week in Science, by Phil Szuromi, 291: 1443 (2001)

Science's Compass Perspectives article: A horn for an eye, by Paul Harvey and Charles Godfray, 291: 1505-1506 (2001)

USAtoday.com: Evolution of Dung beetle's horn explained, by Lisa Onaga, Feb. 23 (2001)

ScienceNow: On the horns of a dilemma, by Menno Schilthuizen, Feb. 28 (2001)

Science Magazine Online: Sizing up dung beetle evolution, by Wade Roush, Feb. 28 (2001)

Study Works! Online: You can't have your horns and big eyes too, by Rachel Clark, Mar. 30,(2001)

Geo Magazine: Auge gegen horn, May, 2001 p. 204.

Nature Reviews Genetics: Evo-Devo: The evolution of a new discipline, by Ruddlof A. Raff. Volume 1: 74-79 (October 2000).

BBC Wildlife (September 2000, p. 35).

Trends in Ecology and Evolution: Using integrative biology to explore constraints on evolution, by Stephen Trumbo. Volume 14: 5-5 (1999).

Discover Magazine (September, 1998, p. 18-19).

Earth Magazine (August, 1998, p. 11)

The New York Times (Science Tuesday, May 5, 1998),     

Science News (April 1998, p. 231)

Science Daily, "Butterfly Wings, Beetle Horns Teach Biologists Basic Lesson In Development's Laws", April 1998

BBC Wildlife (December 1997, p. 59) http://www.wiedzaizycie.pl/97122200.htm

Science: Sizing up dung beetle evolution, by Wade Roush. Volume 277:184.

Nature, “News and Views” photo story, 369: 359. (1994)