Professor Mark Elgar

Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Animal Behaviour, School of BioSciences, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne

See research profile
Air pollution makes it harder for insects to find food and mates thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Air pollution makes it harder for insects to find food and mates

The impact of air pollution particles on insects is greater than previously thought and may be a driver of global declines in insect populations

Secrets of the basket-web spider’s silk thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Secrets of the basket-web spider’s silk

The only spider known to weave a container to catch prey, researchers now have the first insights into the evolution and structure of the basket-web spider’s rare silk

Why do small dogs live longer than big dogs? thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Why do small dogs live longer than big dogs?

Larger animals tend to live longer than smaller ones, but within the dog kingdom it pays to be short. Here’s why

Would cockroaches really survive a nuclear apocalypse? thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

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Go Figure

Would cockroaches really survive a nuclear apocalypse?

Cockroaches have a reputation for resilience, even when it comes to surviving a nuclear bomb and radiation - but would they really outlive us all?

It’s not just antenna size, but scales that matter for lonely male moths thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

It’s not just antenna size, but scales that matter for lonely male moths

Male moth antennae act like sieves, separating female sex pheromones from environmental dust

Are redheads with blue eyes really going extinct? thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

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Go Figure

Are redheads with blue eyes really going extinct?

Rumour has it that red-haired people with blue eyes are dying out - but what’s the truth about the future of this rarest genetic colour combination?

Genes don’t always dictate that ‘boys will be boys’ thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Genes don’t always dictate that ‘boys will be boys’

The evolutionary biology behind insect sex can tell us a lot about ourselves - but for both them and us, genes aren’t necessarily destiny

Darwin was right: Females prefer sex with good listeners thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Darwin was right: Females prefer sex with good listeners

Almost 150 years after Charles Darwin first proposed a little-known prediction from his theory of sexual selection, researchers have found that male moths with larger antennae are better at detecting female signals

The science behind love songs thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

The science behind love songs

How love works on our mind, body and soul ... and why we want to write music about it

Why we show the whites of our eyes thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

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Go Figure

Why we show the whites of our eyes

Only humans obviously show the whites of their eyes, making it easier to communicate and deceive at a glance

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