Recent publications

Ecological principles for the evolution of communication in collective systems
Merlijn Staps, Corina E. Tarnita, and Mari Kawakatsu
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291: 20241562 (2024)
We derive ecological conditions for the evolution of communication in a collective context and show how diverse communication strategies used by social insects (e.g., honeybee waggle dance, trail pheromones, antennal contacts) can be explained theoretically as adaptations to different ecological circumstances.
Communication model

Development shapes the evolutionary diversification of rodent stripe patterns
Merlijn Staps, Pearson W. Miller, Corina E. Tarnita, and Ricardo Mallarino
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 120 (45), e2312077120 (2023)
In this work, we describe the diversity of rodent stripe patterns and explain it from simple developmental principles. We do so by using an integrated approach that combines recent molecular insights, pattern formation models, and phylogenetic analysis.
Rodent patterns

When being flexible matters: ecological underpinnings for the evolution of collective flexibility and task allocation
Merlijn Staps & Corina E. Tarnita
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 119 (18), e2116066119 (2022)
In this paper, we develop a general theoretical framework for the evolution of task allocation in variable environments, applicable to multicellular organisms and social insect colonies. We derive simple and general conditions for the evolution of collective flexibility, and propose potential theoretical explanations for some puzzling empirical observations.
Task allocation

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CV

2023 PhD in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, USA
Advised by Corina Tarnita.
2018 MSc in Cancer, Stem Cells & Developmental Biology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2018 MSc in Mathematical Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2014 BSc in Biology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2014 BSc in Mathematics, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
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