Rebecca Safran

Assistant Professor

rebecca.safran@colorado.edu
303-492-1495
Ramaley N395
Dr. Safran's home page

Ph.D., Cornell University, 2005

Research Interests

Ecological and Evolutionary Connections Between Animal Behavior and Population Biology. As a behavioral and evolutionary ecologist, I am fascinated by relationships among different scales of biological organization. Questions about individual variation (behavior, morphology, and physiology) and population patterns (social and genetic structure, population stability, species boundaries) are usually addressed in isolation from one another, but it is the relationship between these two levels that provides powerful predictive information about the causes and consequences of large scale patterns, such as the generation and loss of biodiversity. To make explicit links between behavioral ecology and population biology, I test theory-driven hypotheses related to both the function and proximate mechanisms that underlie individual behavior and use multi-level statistical models to explore the relationship between individual-level variation and larger-scale patterns within and among populations. I am currently most busy working on reproductive behavior and its consequences for population structure using the Hirundo rustica species complex as an interesting study system. This project is a large, international collaboration with many research opportunities for students at all stages of their careers.

Recent Publications

Safran R.J., Hauber M.E. (2007). Evolutionary Biology: Variation Isn't Always Sexy. Current Biology 17: R368-R 370.

Hauber, M.E., and R.J. Safran (2006). Behavioural ecology: Promiscuous fathers sire young that recognize true family. Current Biology , vol 16 (no 18): R797-R800.

McGraw, K.J., R.J. Safran , and K. Wakamatsu (2005). How feather colour reflects its melanin content. Functional Ecology 19: 816-821.

Safran, R.J. , C.R. Neuman, K.J. McGraw, and I.J. Lovette (2005). Dynamic paternity allocation as a function of male plumage color in barn swallows. Science 309: 2210-2212.

Safran, R.J. and K.J. McGraw (2004). Plumage coloration, not length or symmetry of tail-streamers, is a sexually selected trait in North American barn swallows. Behavioral Ecology vol 15 (no 3): 455-461.

Safran, R.J. (2004). Adaptive site selection rules and variation in group size of barn swallows: Individual decisions predict population patterns. American Naturalist vol 164 (no 2): 121-131.