Sept 2015: Kate Umbers, burying beetle parental care, and tasteless monkey thieves

This month I find out that animals should be careful when choosing a mate, picking a partner that matches them in quality, else they might face an early grave! I discover that a mutation in a taste receptor gene has helped macaques in Japan to become thieves. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Kate Umbers from the University of Western Sydney, who works on a variety of topics, mainly related to understanding the mechanisms, functions and evolution of biological colouration. She tells me what sparked her interest in becoming a scientist. Download the MP3 A Japanese Macaque munching on fruit (image: Quicklinks: Becky Kilner's Burying Beetle Lab Burying Beetle paper in eLife Japanese Macaque taste receptor paper in PLOS One Kate Umbers' lab page

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Sept 2015: Kate Umbers, burying beetle parental care, and tasteless monkey thieves is an episode from The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast).

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This episode was published on Dec 27, 2015.

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