Common frameworks, different models: behavioural adaptation from urban lizards to shrews

How did I end up here? During my bachelor’s degree in Milan, I took part in a project investigating how the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) adapts its behaviour to an increasingly urbanised environment. We focused on traits such as spatial learning, navigation in novel environments and boldness testing, while also collecting additional data for complementary physiological studies. Currently, at the MPI, my work focuses on the common shrew (Sorex araneus), a taxon far removed from lizards in ecology and life history. Yet, both systems are explored through comparable behavioural frameworks: how animals perceive, navigate and adapt to their environments and how these abilities may shift with ecological pressure. In this seminar, I will highlight the shared research approaches that brought me from working with lizards to pursue research on shrews.