The Hilgendorf Lecture

The lecture is named after Franz M. Hilgendorf (1834-1904), a palaeontologist from Tübingen who, in 1863, constructed the first empirical phylogenetic tree of fossil organisms using snail shells. He thus provided the first fossil proof of gradual evolution and speciation as proposed by Darwin’s theory of evolution.

In memento of this work, the Hilgendorf Lecture series promotes evolutionary thinking across disciplines. Internationally renowned scientists present their latest work or show where evolutionary thinking can inform other research areas. The lecture is open to the public and addresses undergraduate and advanced students, postdocs and members of staff from various fields.

Hilgendorf lectures

Coordinator

Dr. Ingmar Werneburg

Information

for hosts

for speakers

WHEN? Wed 17¹⁵ - 19⁰⁰

WHERE? Lecture hall S320 • Hölderlinstraße 12 • Tübingen (GM).

Forthcoming talks (WiSe 2020/2021)

Date	Speaker and Abstract
13 Nov 2020 (Friday) Host: Claudio Tennie	Dr. Mark Moore (University of New England, Armidale, Australia). This talk will be given online during Meeting StEvE Stone tools and cognitive evolution: Insights from stone-flaking experiments The 3.4 million-year history of stone flaking is perhaps our best source of empirical evidence for evolving hominin cognitive capacities. But how do we interpret that evidence in a way that is meaningful for cognitive studies? In this talk I will first review the ‘standard story’ of stone tool design and cognitive evolution, and then argue that the consensus narrative—driven by assertions of goal-directed, top-down design processes—is epistemologically unwarranted. Next I will describe our recent experiments that removed complex intentions from the stone-flaking process and showed that the ostensibly complex early tool forms at the heart of the standard story can in fact be created by relatively mindless, bottom-up design. The talk concludes by presenting a model of hominin cognitive evolution that incorporates these empirical observations.
09 Dec 2020 (Wednesday) Host: Oliver Bossdorf	Prof. Marc T. J. Johnson, Ph.D. (University of Toronto, Centre for Urban Environments). This talk will be given online via Zoom. The Evolution of Life in the Urban Jungle Urban areas represent the fastest growing ecosystem on earth, in which the development of cities dramatically changes the biotic and abiotic environment to create novel ecosystems. Despite the importance of urbanization, we have little understanding of how urbanization affects the evolution of species that live in cities. In this talk, I will discuss the most current science about how cities are affecting evolution in plants and animals, from elevating mutation rates to driving novel adaptions, to giving rise to new species through the process of urban driven speciation. I will then describe our research on a single model organisms, white clover, in which we have investigated whether urbanization affects natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. We are currently extending this work to understand if urbanization throughout the world is leading to convergent evolution at a global scale. I will conclude with a discussion of the applied importance of understanding evolution in cities.

Date

Speaker and Abstract

13 Nov 2020 (Friday)

Host: Claudio Tennie

Mark Moore

Dr. Mark Moore (University of New England, Armidale, Australia).

This talk will be given online during Meeting StEvE

Stone tools and cognitive evolution: Insights from stone-flaking experiments

The 3.4 million-year history of stone flaking is perhaps our best source of empirical evidence for evolving hominin cognitive capacities. But how do we interpret that evidence in a way that is meaningful for cognitive studies? In this talk I will first review the ‘standard story’ of stone tool design and cognitive evolution, and then argue that the consensus narrative—driven by assertions of goal-directed, top-down design processes—is epistemologically unwarranted. Next I will describe our recent experiments that removed complex intentions from the stone-flaking process and showed that the ostensibly complex early tool forms at the heart of the standard story can in fact be created by relatively mindless, bottom-up design. The talk concludes by presenting a model of hominin cognitive evolution that incorporates these empirical observations.

09 Dec 2020 (Wednesday)

Host: Oliver Bossdorf
News | Biology

Prof. Marc T. J. Johnson, Ph.D. (University of Toronto, Centre for Urban Environments).

This talk will be given online via Zoom.

The Evolution of Life in the Urban Jungle

Urban areas represent the fastest growing ecosystem on earth, in which the development of cities dramatically changes the biotic and abiotic environment to create novel ecosystems. Despite the importance of urbanization, we have little understanding of how urbanization affects the evolution of species that live in cities. In this talk, I will discuss the most current science about how cities are affecting evolution in plants and animals, from elevating mutation rates to driving novel adaptions, to giving rise to new species through the process of urban driven speciation. I will then describe our research on a single model organisms, white clover, in which we have investigated whether urbanization affects natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. We are currently extending this work to understand if urbanization throughout the world is leading to convergent evolution at a global scale. I will conclude with a discussion of the applied importance of understanding evolution in cities.

Previous talks

WiSe 2019/2020

Date	Speaker and Abstract
06 Dec 2019 (Friday) Host: Katharina Foerster	Prof. Dr. Mike Bruford (Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff, UK). Note exceptional time (Friday) and location (Alte Aula, Münzgasse) Conserving Genomic Diversity in a Changing World Genomic diversity (GD) is one of the three key components of biological diversity that can be measured, and thirty years of population genetic (and now genomic) research have shown that GD estimators can provide sensitive indictors of changes in demographic processes manifested in population size, connectivity, inbreeding, introgression/hybridization among others. Yet, despite its proven record, GD is rarely incorporated into conservation planning, and we have to ask the question “why?” and examine the prospects for its more meaningful inclusion in conservation policy and management in the future. I will examine the reasons for the limited traction that genetic science has gained in conservation, exemplify some case studies from our own work where genetic and genomic data can fundamentally change conservation management action and discuss prospects for how this situation may improve as we transition into a new decade of conservation planning.
08 Jan 2020 Host: Katerina Harvati	Prof. Dr. Ruth Ley (Department of Microbiome Science, Max Planck Inst. for Developmental Biology, Tübingen) The role of the microbiome in human genetic adaptation Human populations have adapted genetically to a variety of local environments across the globe. They have not done so alone, as humans harbour microbiomes acquired from other individuals and from the environment. A subset of host-associated microbes can affect host traits, and these microbes can also be under the genetic influence of the host. Microbiomes can thereby enable or otherwise affect the host’s adaptation to local environments. Our work has highlighted three examples where the microbiome has likely contributed to adaptive trait variation in humans. (1) The strongest association between gut microbiome composition and human genotype is between the human lactate gene (LCT) and the abundance of gut Bifidobacteria. This is true for multiple populations of European descent and is dependent on milk consumption. (2) We have also recently linked the variation in copy number of the salivary amylase gene (AMY1) with the composition and function of the gut microbiome. (3) The gut microbes for which humans have the strongest genetic predisposition belong to the family Christesenellaceae. Intriguingly, these bacteria are also associated with a lean human body type and can induce leanness in mice. Other known examples of local adaptations in humans exist, where future studies may investigate how microbes interact with host adaptive alleles in the process of host adaptive evolution. Despite the potential role of microbiomes in moderating host genetic adaptation, evolutionary models that integrate the interactions between beneficial microbes and beneficial host alleles during the process of host adaptation remain to be developed.
29 Jan 2020 Host: Oliver Bossdorf	Prof. Dr. Carol Lee (Centre of Rapid Evolution, Univ. of Wisconsin) Note exceptional location (Hörsaal N10, Auf der Morgenstelle 3) Rapid genomic evolution during habitat invasions The ability of populations to expand their geographic ranges, whether as invaders, agricultural strains, or climate migrants, presents among the most serious global problems today. However, fundamental mechanisms remain poorly understood regarding factors that enable certain populations, such as biological invaders, to rapidly transition to novel habitats. According to one hypothesis, environmental fluctuations in the native range could promote successful invasions in novel habitats by imposing balancing selection on key traits and maintaining the genetic variation that enables rapid adaptation. Here, we test the genomic predictions of this hypothesis by performing whole genome sequencing of multiple independent invasive freshwater and native saline populations of the copepod Eurytemora affinis complex. We found that invasive populations have repeatedly responded to selection through the parallel use of the same SNPs and genomic loci, and remarkably, these same loci are enriched for signatures of long-term balancing selection in the native ranges. Our results support the hypothesis that fluctuating habitats can promote invasive success and that balancing selection could serve as a widespread and important mechanism enabling rapid adaptation in nature.

Date

Speaker and Abstract

06 Dec 2019 (Friday)

Host: Katharina Foerster

Prof. Dr. Mike Bruford (Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff, UK).

Note exceptional time (Friday) and location (Alte Aula, Münzgasse)

Conserving Genomic Diversity in a Changing World

Genomic diversity (GD) is one of the three key components of biological diversity that can be measured, and thirty years of population genetic (and now genomic) research have shown that GD estimators can provide sensitive indictors of changes in demographic processes manifested in population size, connectivity, inbreeding, introgression/hybridization among others. Yet, despite its proven record, GD is rarely incorporated into conservation planning, and we have to ask the question “why?” and examine the prospects for its more meaningful inclusion in conservation policy and management in the future. I will examine the reasons for the limited traction that genetic science has gained in conservation, exemplify some case studies from our own work where genetic and genomic data can fundamentally change conservation management action and discuss prospects for how this situation may improve as we transition into a new decade of conservation planning.

08 Jan 2020
Host: Katerina Harvati

Prof. Dr. Ruth Ley (Department of Microbiome Science, Max Planck Inst. for Developmental Biology, Tübingen)

The role of the microbiome in human genetic adaptation

Human populations have adapted genetically to a variety of local environments across the globe. They have not done so alone, as humans harbour microbiomes acquired from other individuals and from the environment. A subset of host-associated microbes can affect host traits, and these microbes can also be under the genetic influence of the host. Microbiomes can thereby enable or otherwise affect the host’s adaptation to local environments. Our work has highlighted three examples where the microbiome has likely contributed to adaptive trait variation in humans. (1) The strongest association between gut microbiome composition and human genotype is between the human lactate gene (LCT) and the abundance of gut Bifidobacteria. This is true for multiple populations of European descent and is dependent on milk consumption. (2) We have also recently linked the variation in copy number of the salivary amylase gene (AMY1) with the composition and function of the gut microbiome. (3) The gut microbes for which humans have the strongest genetic predisposition belong to the family Christesenellaceae. Intriguingly, these bacteria are also associated with a lean human body type and can induce leanness in mice. Other known examples of local adaptations in humans exist, where future studies may investigate how microbes interact with host adaptive alleles in the process of host adaptive evolution. Despite the potential role of microbiomes in moderating host genetic adaptation, evolutionary models that integrate the interactions between beneficial microbes and beneficial host alleles during the process of host adaptation remain to be developed.

29 Jan 2020

Host: Oliver Bossdorf

Prof. Dr. Carol Lee (Centre of Rapid Evolution, Univ. of Wisconsin)

Note exceptional location (Hörsaal N10, Auf der Morgenstelle 3)

Rapid genomic evolution during habitat invasions

The ability of populations to expand their geographic ranges, whether as invaders, agricultural strains, or climate migrants, presents among the most serious global problems today. However, fundamental mechanisms remain poorly understood regarding factors that enable certain populations, such as biological invaders, to rapidly transition to novel habitats. According to one hypothesis, environmental fluctuations in the
native range could promote successful invasions in novel habitats by imposing balancing selection on key traits and maintaining the genetic variation that enables rapid adaptation. Here, we test the genomic
predictions of this hypothesis by performing whole genome sequencing of multiple independent invasive freshwater and native saline populations of the copepod Eurytemora affinis complex. We found that invasive populations have repeatedly responded to selection through the parallel use of the same SNPs and genomic loci, and remarkably, these same loci are enriched for signatures of long-term balancing selection in the native ranges. Our results support the hypothesis that fluctuating habitats can promote invasive success and that balancing selection could serve as a widespread and important mechanism enabling rapid adaptation in nature.

2019

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schmid (Evol. Biology and Environmental Studies, Univ. Zürich, CH): "Plant biodiversity research: from ecology to evolution".
Prof. Dr. Todd Ehlers (Geology and Geodynamics, Tübingen)
The Influence of Vegetation Change on the Earth’s Surface
Prof. Dr. Michal Kucera (marum Research Faculty, Bremen): "Origin of marine zooplankton and the nature of major ecological transition".
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bosch (Kiel Marine Sciences, Germany): "On the origin and function of metaorganisms".
Prof. Dr. Maria McNamara (Preservation and palaeobiology of exceptionally preserved fossils, UC Cork, Ireland): "Evolution of the vertebrate integument: problems, approaches and new directions."
Prof. Dr. Marcelo Sánchez (Evolutionary Morphology and Palaeobiology of Vertebrates, Uni Zürich, CH): "Modern human origins and ‘self-domestication’ – an organismal and developmental perspective"

2018

Prof. Dr. Heike Wägele (Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig): "Solar powered sea slugs - fiction or reality"
Prof. Dr. Tracy Kivell (Animal Postcranial Evolution lab, University of Kent, UK): "The mysteries of Homo naledi and the evolution of our hands"
Dr. Robert Asher (Univ. of Cambridge, Museum of Zoology, UK): "DNA, Fossils, and the Evolutionary Tree of Rodents"
Dr. Claudio Tennie (Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Tübingen): "The ancestral reconstruction of early hominin culture using recent findings from comparative cognition"
Prof. Nicolas Loeuille (International Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences)
"Interaction between species sorting and evolutionary dynamics in metacommunities: consequences for the emergence and maintenance of species diversity"
Philipp Mitteröcker (Department of Theoretical Biology, Univ. Vienna Austria), "Why is human childbirth so difficult? Obstetrics and the evolution of labor"

2017

Wolfgang Forstmeier (Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen Germany), "How research on mate choice in zebra finches reveals weaknesses in our scientific method"
Virpii Lummaa (Human Life History Group, Univ. of Turku Finland), "Natural selection in contemporary human populations"
Mikael Fortelius (Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki), "Environments and mammal communities in the East African Plio-Pleistocene"
Ille Gebeshuber (University of Vienna, Austria), "What is a physicist doing in the jungle? Biomimetics of the rainforest"
Robin Dennell (University of Exeter, UK), "Homo sapiens outside Africa: the history of an invasive species"
Fernando Maestre (Dryland Ecology and Global Change Lab, Univ. of Madrid, Spain), "Biotic controls of ecosystem functioning in global drylands under global change"
Alexandra Klein, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, "Managing biodiversity to promote pollination services - how to increase biodiversity and why it is important for wild and managed ecosystems"

2016

Redouan Bshary, Université de Neuchatel, Switzerland, "Marine cleaning mutualism: game theory meets mechanisms"
Mietje Germonpre, Roy. Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, "The early beginnings of the Upper Palaeolithic domestication of the dog"
Markus Bastir, National History Museum Madrid, Spain, "Evolution, form and function of the human respiratory system"
Christoph Randler, Tübingen University, "Chronotype, individual differences and the biological basis of morning/evening-orientation – Is there a link with evolutionary aspects in humans?"
Wil Roebroeks Leiden University, Netherlands, "The peopling of Pleistocene Europe - with or without fire?"

2015

Bob Wong, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, "Behavioural Responses to a changing world: evolutionary and ecological consequences"
John R. Pannell, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, "Evolution and implications of gender strategies in plants"
Stephen Frost, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, US: "Monkey Business: global climatic change and its relationship to primate and human evolutions"
Bruce MacFadden, Biology, Geological Sciences, and Latin American Studies, University of Florida, USA: "Fossil horses: Icons of evolution and exhibits"
Ariel Novoplansky, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel: "Ecological implications of plant communication"
Anne Christine Utne Palm, Institute of Marine Research, Norway: "A breath taking little fish - exploiting extreme environments and redressing the balance in an overfished ecosystem"

2008-2014

2014

Prof. Christina Warinner, Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, USA: "Reconstructing our ancient microbial self"
Prof. Sönke Johnsen, Biology department, Duke University, USA: "Hide and seek in the open sea"
Prof. Jonathan Silvertown, Evolutionary Ecology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland: "The Crowd and the Cloud: Re-inventing Natural History for the 21st Century"
Prof. Anne Magurran, Centre for Biological Diversity, University of St Andrews, Scottland: "Biological Diversity in a Changing World"
Prof. Nicole M. van Dam, German Centre for Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig: "Herbivore-induced responses in roots and shoots: What comes up, must go down?"
Prof. Peter Gärdenfors, Cognitive Sciences, University of Lund, Sweden: "How Homo became docens: On the evolution of teaching"
Prof. Charlotta Kvarnemo, Biology & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden: "Pregnant pipefish males: Care & brood reduction"
Anna-Liisa Lain, Metapopulation Research Group, Helsinki: "Uncovering Determinants of Disease Dynamics in a wild Host-Pathogen Metapopulation"

2013

Keith Hobson, Canadian Wildlife Service, Saskatoon, Canada: "Tracking animal migration using stable isotopes."
Kenneth B. Storey, Molecular Physiology Department, Ottawa, Canada: "The living Dead: Metabolic Arrest and the Control of Biological Time"
Jan Benda, Neuroethology, University of Tübingen:"Electrosensory fish in their environment -from Neuroscience to Ecology"
Rosemary Gillespie, Univ California Berkeley, United States: "Community Assembly through Adaptive Radiation: Spiders on Islands"
Aubrey de Grey, SENS Research Foundation,Mountain View, California, United States:Mitochondrial DNA: evolutionary insights into future therapies for aging
Detlef Weigel, MPI Dev Biol Tübingen: Origins and consequences of genetic and epigenetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana

2012

Tracey Chapman, Univ East Anglia: Sexual conflict and competition: molecules, mechanisms and evolutionary change
Jacob Weiner, Univ Copenhagen: Evolutionary Agroecology - applying evolutionary theory to plant production
Walter Federle, Univ Cambridge: Slippery surfaces and skillful climbers: biomechanics and ecology of insect-plant interactions
Nicole Dubilier, MPI Marine Microbiol, Bremen: From deep sea hydrothermal vents to coral reef sediments: the remarkable diversity of symbioses between chemosynthetic bacteria and marine invertebrates
Paul Brakefield, Univ Cambridge: From a model species to exploring adaptive radiations in butterflies
Andrei Lupas, MPI Dev Biol Tübingen: The origin of folded proteins
Bill Rice, Univ Calif Santa Barbara: A new form of intragenomic conflict between sex chromosomes
Jens Krause, Leibniz-Inst. Freshwater Ecol & Inland Fisheries Berlin: Collective Behaviour and Swarm Intelligence
Helmut Segner, Univ Bern: Why has ecotoxicology left no mark in ecology? A personal view

2011

David Lordkipanidze, Georgian National Museum: The hominins of Dmanisi and the earliest peopling of Eurasia
Michael Herdy, INPRO Berlin: Optimization of industrial processes using principles of evolution
Hans-Dieter Sues, Natl Mus Nat Hist, Washington: The end-Triassic Mass Extinction in Continental Ecosystems
Janis Antonovics, Univ Virginia: Linnaeus, Darwin and the Germ Theory of Disease
Paul Koch, Univ Santa Cruz: The Rise and Fall of Elephant Seal Breeding Colonies on Antarctica: Insights from Fossil Record
Francesco d'Errico, Univ Bordeaux: When and how did humans became behaviourally modern?

2010

Madelaine Böhme, Univ Tübingen: The late middle Miocene vertebrate fauna of Gratkorn - an exceptional fossil locality
Jeff Ollerton, Univ Northampton: The biodiversity of plant-pollinator interactions: an overview of research 1990-210
Katharina Foerster, Univ Tübingen: Understanding evolution: The power of long-term field data
Dieter Ebert, Univ Basel: Antagonistic coevolution
Eörs Szathmary, Collegium Budapest: The origin of the genetic code
Ran Nathan, Univ Jerusalem: An emerging movement ecology paradigm
Thomas Cavalier-Smith, Univ Oxford: The eukaryote tree: deep phylogeny and the evolution of protist body plans
Duncan Irschick, Univ Massachusetts Amherst: The evolution of animal performance: from microevolution to macroevolution

2009

Bill Hansson, MPI Chemical Ecology Jena: Olfactory Evolution
Tad Kawecki, Univ Lausanne: Evolutionary biology of learning: insights from Drosophila
Mike Benton, Univ Bristol: New Methods of Studying Dinosaurian Radiation and Success
Russel Gray, Univ Auckland: The Pleasures and Perils of Darwinising Culture
Nicholas Conard, Univ Tübingen: A female figurine from the basal Aurignacian of Hohle Fels Cave in southwest Germany
Joan Roughgarden, Univ Stanford: Reproductive Social Behavior: Old and New Evolutionary Theories
Franjo Weissing, Univ Groningen: The Evolution of animal personality
Volker Loeschcke, Univ Arhus: Thermal adaptation and environmental stress: from selection experiments to gene expression studies and field releases

2008

Hans Breeuwer, Univ Amsterdam: Evolutionary consequences of reproductive parasites in spider mites
Laurent Keller, Univ Lausanne: Behaviour, the role of interactions between genes and social environment