Jenny Yi-Ting Sung

Evolution of facial morphology and facial recognition, species recognition, visual perception, animal communication, color vision and animal coloration, sexual selection, behavioral ecology

Advisor: Dr. Nathan Morehouse
Morehouse lab website

I am broadly interested in how animals perceive the world around them, whether in understanding their environment or in communicating with con- and heterospecifics. In conspecific communication, the face is specifically an information-rich region that may communicate identiy, individual quality, and intention for visually guided species across diverse taxa, e.g. primates, sheep, paper wasps, and jumping spiders. How are faces viewed differently compared to other complex objects in the environment? What facial features are critical for facial recognition? What function does facial morphology serve in an ecological context? How has facial ornaments diversified under different community makeup?

I plan to explore these questions using the Habronattus jumping spiders, which has both evolved to have a wider spectral sensitivity than many other jumping spiders and offer a diverse array of facial patterns and coloration across the genus.

2016 -2018 Research Technician, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

2015 -2016 Laboratory Teaching Assistant, Zoology, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, USA

2014 -2016 First-Year Mentor, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, USA

2014 -2016 Student Researcher, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, USA

Published Abstracts

Sung JY* and Morehouse NI. (2020. ) Selection for distinctiveness in Chinese opera masks .[Abstract]Integr Comp Biol, 60 ,E425 -E425 Co-Author

Sung JY*, Harris OK*, Hensley NM, Chemero AP, and Morehouse NI (2021. ) Beyond cognitive templates .[Abstract]Integr Comp Biol, Co-Author

Steck M*, Sung JY, Outomuro D, Maddison WP, Morehouse NI, and Porter ML (2021. ) Opsin evolution and color vision in jumping spiders .[Abstract]Integr Comp Biol, Co-Author

Peer Reviewed Publications

Riddle MR*, Aspiras AC*, Gaudenz K, Peuß R, Sung JY, Martineau B, Peavey M, Box AC, Tabin JA, McGaugh S, Borowsky R, Tabin CJ, and Rohner N (2018. ) Insulin resistance in cavefish as an adaptation to a nutrient-limited environment.Nature, , 555 (7698 ) ,647 -651

Riddle et al. 2018

08-2018 Albert C. Yates Fellow Status:Recipient Level:University Type:Fellowship

-BIOL-2001C ANAT PHYS I Level:Undergraduate

-BIOL-2082C EVOL ECOL GENETICS Level:Undergraduate

711 Rieveschl Hall
sungyg@mail.uc.edu