Scholars@Duke
Sara E Lipshutz

Sara E Lipshutz

Assistant Professor of Biology
Biology
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Selected Publications

Sex diversity in the 21st century: Concepts, frameworks, and approaches for the future of neuroendocrinology.

Journal Article Hormones and behavior · January 2024 Sex is ubiquitous and variable throughout the animal kingdom. Historically, scientists have used reductionist methodologies that rely on a priori sex categorizations, in which two discrete sexes are inextricably linked with gamete type. However, this binar ... Full text Cite

Song and genetic divergence within a subspecies of white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli).

Journal Article PloS one · January 2024 Animal culture evolves alongside genomes, and the two modes of inheritance-culture and genes-interact in myriad ways. For example, stable geographic variation in culture can act as a reproductive barrier, thereby facilitating genetic divergence between "cu ... Full text Cite

Eurasian tree sparrows are more food neophobic and habituate to novel objects more slowly than house sparrows

Journal Article Biological Invasions · January 1, 2024 Most research on the variables that allow for introduced species to succeed and become invasive has focused on environmental and ecological factors. Fewer studies have assessed the roles of behavioral and cognitive traits. To help fill this knowledge gap, ... Full text Cite

Multivariate Models of Animal Sex: Breaking Binaries Leads to a Better Understanding of Ecology and Evolution.

Journal Article Integrative and comparative biology · October 2023 "Sex" is often used to describe a suite of phenotypic and genotypic traits of an organism related to reproduction. However, these traits-gamete type, chromosomal inheritance, physiology, morphology, behavior, etc.-are not necessarily coupled, and the rheto ... Full text Open Access Cite

Sex and Biology: Broader Impacts Beyond the Binary.

Journal Article Integrative and comparative biology · October 2023 What are the implications of misunderstanding sex as a binary, and why is it essential for scientists to incorporate a more expansive view of biological sex in our teaching and research? This roundtable will include many of our symposium speakers, includin ... Full text Open Access Cite

Novel insights into symbiont population structure: Globe-trotting avian feather mites contradict the specialist-generalist variation hypothesis.

Journal Article Molecular ecology · October 2023 Researchers often examine symbiont host specificity as a species-level pattern, but it can also be key to understanding processes occurring at the population level, which are not as well understood. The specialist-generalist variation hypothesis (SGVH) att ... Full text Cite

Systems biology as a framework to understand the physiological and endocrine bases of behavior and its evolution-From concepts to a case study in birds.

Journal Article Hormones and behavior · May 2023 Organismal behavior, with its tremendous complexity and diversity, is generated by numerous physiological systems acting in coordination. Understanding how these systems evolve to support differences in behavior within and among species is a longstanding g ... Full text Cite

Comparative phylogeography reveals widespread cryptic diversity driven by ecology in Panamanian birds.

Journal Article bioRxiv · March 16, 2023 Widespread species often harbor unrecognized genetic diversity, and investigating the factors associated with such cryptic variation can help us better understand the forces driving diversification. Here, we identify potential cryptic species based on a co ... Full text Link to item Cite

How Female-Female Competition Affects Male-Male Competition: Insights into Postcopulatory Sexual Selection from Socially Polyandrous Species.

Journal Article The American naturalist · March 2023 AbstractSexual selection is a major driver of trait variation, and the intensity of male competition for mating opportunities has been linked with sperm size across diverse taxa. Mating competition among females may also shape the evolution of sperm traits ... Full text Open Access Cite

Beyond a biased binary: A perspective on the misconceptions, challenges, and implications of studying females in avian behavioral endocrinology

Journal Article Frontiers in Physiology · September 21, 2022 For decades, avian endocrinology has been informed by male perspectives and male-focused research, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of female birds. Male birds have been favored as research subjects because their reproductive behaviors are con ... Full text Cite

How thermal challenges change gene regulation in the songbird brain and gonad: Implications for sexual selection in our changing world.

Journal Article Molecular ecology · July 2022 In a rapidly warming world, exposure to high temperatures may impact fitness, but the gene regulatory mechanisms that link sublethal heat to sexually selected traits are not well understood, particularly in endothermic animals. Our experiment used zebra fi ... Full text Open Access Cite

Nesting strategy shapes territorial aggression but not testosterone: A comparative approach in female and male birds.

Journal Article Hormones and behavior · July 2021 Our understanding of the proximate and ultimate mechanisms shaping competitive reproductive phenotypes primarily stems from research on male-male competition for mates, even though competition is widespread in both sexes. We evaluate the hypothesis that th ... Full text Open Access Cite

Long-term changes of plumage between urban and rural populations of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Journal Article Journal of Urban Ecology · January 1, 2021 Urbanization is one of the most extreme forms of land transformation and results in changes to ecosystems and species compositions. As a result, there are strong directional selection pressures compared to nearby rural areas. Despite a surge in research on ... Full text Cite

Neuroendocrinology of Sex-Role Reversal.

Conference Integrative and comparative biology · September 2020 Females of some species are considered sex-role reversed, meaning that they face stronger competition for mates compared to males. While much attention has been paid to behavioral and morphological patterns associated with sex-role reversal, less is known ... Full text Cite

It Takes Two to Tango: Including a Female Perspective in Reproductive Biology.

Conference Integrative and comparative biology · September 2020 Like many scientific disciplines, the field of reproductive biology is subject to biases in terminology and research foci. For example, females are often described as coy and passive players in reproductive behaviors and are termed "promiscuous" if they en ... Full text Cite

Species and sex differences in vocalizations between sex-role reversed shorebirds, Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) and Wattled Jacana (J. jacana)

Journal Article Wilson Journal of Ornithology · June 1, 2020 Species-specific vocalizations can act as a reproductive isolating mechanism between closely related populations. We analyzed vocal differences between 2 hybridizing species of sex-role reversed polyandrous shorebirds, the Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) ... Full text Cite

Testosterone secretion varies in a sex- and stage-specific manner: Insights on the regulation of competitive traits from a sex-role reversed species.

Journal Article General and comparative endocrinology · June 2020 Testosterone (T) mediates a variety of traits that function in competition for mates, including territorial aggression, ornaments, armaments, and gametogenesis. The link between T and mating competition has been studied mainly in males, but females also fa ... Full text Open Access Cite

Increased attenuation and reverberation are associated with lower maximum frequencies and narrow bandwidth of bird songs in cities

Journal Article Journal of Ornithology · April 1, 2020 As urbanization expands globally, the communication systems of an increasing number of species are affected. Because bird song is a long-distance signal used to attract mates and defend territories, the evolution of bird song is often shaped by habitat str ... Full text Cite

Evaluating testosterone as a phenotypic integrator: From tissues to individuals to species.

Journal Article Molecular and cellular endocrinology · October 2019 Hormones have the potential to bring about rapid phenotypic change; however, they are highly conserved over millions of years of evolution. Here, we examine the evolution of hormone-mediated phenotypes, and the extent to which regulation is achieved via in ... Full text Open Access Cite

Differential introgression of a female competitive trait in a hybrid zone between sex-role reversed species.

Journal Article Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · February 2019 Mating behavior between recently diverged species in secondary contact can impede or promote reproductive isolation. Traditionally, researchers focus on the importance of female mate choice and male-male competition in maintaining or eroding species barrie ... Full text Open Access Cite

Sex diversity in the 21st century: Concepts, frameworks, and approaches for the future of neuroendocrinology.

Journal Article Hormones and behavior · January 2024 Sex is ubiquitous and variable throughout the animal kingdom. Historically, scientists have used reductionist methodologies that rely on a priori sex categorizations, in which two discrete sexes are inextricably linked with gamete type. However, this binar ... Full text Cite

Song and genetic divergence within a subspecies of white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli).

Journal Article PloS one · January 2024 Animal culture evolves alongside genomes, and the two modes of inheritance-culture and genes-interact in myriad ways. For example, stable geographic variation in culture can act as a reproductive barrier, thereby facilitating genetic divergence between "cu ... Full text Cite

Eurasian tree sparrows are more food neophobic and habituate to novel objects more slowly than house sparrows

Journal Article Biological Invasions · January 1, 2024 Most research on the variables that allow for introduced species to succeed and become invasive has focused on environmental and ecological factors. Fewer studies have assessed the roles of behavioral and cognitive traits. To help fill this knowledge gap, ... Full text Cite

Multivariate Models of Animal Sex: Breaking Binaries Leads to a Better Understanding of Ecology and Evolution.

Journal Article Integrative and comparative biology · October 2023 "Sex" is often used to describe a suite of phenotypic and genotypic traits of an organism related to reproduction. However, these traits-gamete type, chromosomal inheritance, physiology, morphology, behavior, etc.-are not necessarily coupled, and the rheto ... Full text Open Access Cite

Sex and Biology: Broader Impacts Beyond the Binary.

Journal Article Integrative and comparative biology · October 2023 What are the implications of misunderstanding sex as a binary, and why is it essential for scientists to incorporate a more expansive view of biological sex in our teaching and research? This roundtable will include many of our symposium speakers, includin ... Full text Open Access Cite

Novel insights into symbiont population structure: Globe-trotting avian feather mites contradict the specialist-generalist variation hypothesis.

Journal Article Molecular ecology · October 2023 Researchers often examine symbiont host specificity as a species-level pattern, but it can also be key to understanding processes occurring at the population level, which are not as well understood. The specialist-generalist variation hypothesis (SGVH) att ... Full text Cite

Systems biology as a framework to understand the physiological and endocrine bases of behavior and its evolution-From concepts to a case study in birds.

Journal Article Hormones and behavior · May 2023 Organismal behavior, with its tremendous complexity and diversity, is generated by numerous physiological systems acting in coordination. Understanding how these systems evolve to support differences in behavior within and among species is a longstanding g ... Full text Cite

Comparative phylogeography reveals widespread cryptic diversity driven by ecology in Panamanian birds.

Journal Article bioRxiv · March 16, 2023 Widespread species often harbor unrecognized genetic diversity, and investigating the factors associated with such cryptic variation can help us better understand the forces driving diversification. Here, we identify potential cryptic species based on a co ... Full text Link to item Cite

How Female-Female Competition Affects Male-Male Competition: Insights into Postcopulatory Sexual Selection from Socially Polyandrous Species.

Journal Article The American naturalist · March 2023 AbstractSexual selection is a major driver of trait variation, and the intensity of male competition for mating opportunities has been linked with sperm size across diverse taxa. Mating competition among females may also shape the evolution of sperm traits ... Full text Open Access Cite

Beyond a biased binary: A perspective on the misconceptions, challenges, and implications of studying females in avian behavioral endocrinology

Journal Article Frontiers in Physiology · September 21, 2022 For decades, avian endocrinology has been informed by male perspectives and male-focused research, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of female birds. Male birds have been favored as research subjects because their reproductive behaviors are con ... Full text Cite

How thermal challenges change gene regulation in the songbird brain and gonad: Implications for sexual selection in our changing world.

Journal Article Molecular ecology · July 2022 In a rapidly warming world, exposure to high temperatures may impact fitness, but the gene regulatory mechanisms that link sublethal heat to sexually selected traits are not well understood, particularly in endothermic animals. Our experiment used zebra fi ... Full text Open Access Cite

Nesting strategy shapes territorial aggression but not testosterone: A comparative approach in female and male birds.

Journal Article Hormones and behavior · July 2021 Our understanding of the proximate and ultimate mechanisms shaping competitive reproductive phenotypes primarily stems from research on male-male competition for mates, even though competition is widespread in both sexes. We evaluate the hypothesis that th ... Full text Open Access Cite

Long-term changes of plumage between urban and rural populations of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Journal Article Journal of Urban Ecology · January 1, 2021 Urbanization is one of the most extreme forms of land transformation and results in changes to ecosystems and species compositions. As a result, there are strong directional selection pressures compared to nearby rural areas. Despite a surge in research on ... Full text Cite

Neuroendocrinology of Sex-Role Reversal.

Conference Integrative and comparative biology · September 2020 Females of some species are considered sex-role reversed, meaning that they face stronger competition for mates compared to males. While much attention has been paid to behavioral and morphological patterns associated with sex-role reversal, less is known ... Full text Cite

It Takes Two to Tango: Including a Female Perspective in Reproductive Biology.

Conference Integrative and comparative biology · September 2020 Like many scientific disciplines, the field of reproductive biology is subject to biases in terminology and research foci. For example, females are often described as coy and passive players in reproductive behaviors and are termed "promiscuous" if they en ... Full text Cite

Species and sex differences in vocalizations between sex-role reversed shorebirds, Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) and Wattled Jacana (J. jacana)

Journal Article Wilson Journal of Ornithology · June 1, 2020 Species-specific vocalizations can act as a reproductive isolating mechanism between closely related populations. We analyzed vocal differences between 2 hybridizing species of sex-role reversed polyandrous shorebirds, the Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) ... Full text Cite

Testosterone secretion varies in a sex- and stage-specific manner: Insights on the regulation of competitive traits from a sex-role reversed species.

Journal Article General and comparative endocrinology · June 2020 Testosterone (T) mediates a variety of traits that function in competition for mates, including territorial aggression, ornaments, armaments, and gametogenesis. The link between T and mating competition has been studied mainly in males, but females also fa ... Full text Open Access Cite

Increased attenuation and reverberation are associated with lower maximum frequencies and narrow bandwidth of bird songs in cities

Journal Article Journal of Ornithology · April 1, 2020 As urbanization expands globally, the communication systems of an increasing number of species are affected. Because bird song is a long-distance signal used to attract mates and defend territories, the evolution of bird song is often shaped by habitat str ... Full text Cite

Evaluating testosterone as a phenotypic integrator: From tissues to individuals to species.

Journal Article Molecular and cellular endocrinology · October 2019 Hormones have the potential to bring about rapid phenotypic change; however, they are highly conserved over millions of years of evolution. Here, we examine the evolution of hormone-mediated phenotypes, and the extent to which regulation is achieved via in ... Full text Open Access Cite

Differential introgression of a female competitive trait in a hybrid zone between sex-role reversed species.

Journal Article Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · February 2019 Mating behavior between recently diverged species in secondary contact can impede or promote reproductive isolation. Traditionally, researchers focus on the importance of female mate choice and male-male competition in maintaining or eroding species barrie ... Full text Open Access Cite

Interspecific competition, hybridization, and reproductive isolation in secondary contact: Missing perspectives on males and females

Journal Article Current Zoology · February 1, 2018 Research on sexual selection and hybridization has focused on female mate choice and male-male competition. While the evolutionary outcomes of interspecific female preference have been well explored, we are now gaining a better understanding of the process ... Full text Open Access Cite

Divergent competitive phenotypes between females of two sex-role-reversed species

Journal Article Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology · July 1, 2017 Abstract: Divergent phenotypes between lineages in the early stages of speciation can promote or impede reproductive isolation. Although divergence in male competitive morphology and behavior has been explored for many hybridizing lineages, it is less know ... Full text Open Access Cite

Behavioural response to song and genetic divergence in two subspecies of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys).

Journal Article Molecular ecology · June 2017 Divergence in sexual signals may drive reproductive isolation between lineages, but behavioural barriers can weaken in contact zones. Here, we investigate the role of song as a behavioural and genetic barrier in a contact zone between two subspecies of whi ... Full text Open Access Cite

Patterns of Song across Natural and Anthropogenic Soundscapes Suggest That White-Crowned Sparrows Minimize Acoustic Masking and Maximize Signal Content.

Journal Article PloS one · January 2016 Soundscapes pose both evolutionarily recent and long-standing sources of selection on acoustic communication. We currently know more about the impact of evolutionarily recent human-generated noise on communication than we do about how natural sounds such a ... Full text Open Access Cite

Genetic and phenotypic characterization of a hybrid zone between polyandrous Northern and Wattled Jacanas in Western Panama.

Journal Article BMC evolutionary biology · November 2014 BackgroundHybridization provides a unique perspective into the ecological, genetic and behavioral context of speciation. Hybridization is common in birds, but has not yet been reported among bird species with a simultaneously polyandrous mating sy ... Full text Open Access Cite