Alex Davis

Contact Information:

alexander96davis@gmail.com

Education:

PhD, Biology, 2022, Duke University
BS, Biology, 2018, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research Interests:

I am interested in pelagic camouflage and understanding the adaptations that organisms use to make themselves invisible when there is nothing to hide behind. How do deep-sea organisms absorb the light from bioluminescent predators? How does mirror-based camouflage function effectively in an asymmetrical light environment? What are the physical and biological factors that affect the types of camouflage organisms employ?

Publications:

Davis, A. L., Zipple, M. N., Diaz, D., Peters, S., Nowicki, S. N. and S. Johnsen (2022). Influence of visual background on discrimination of signal-relevant colors in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences 289, 20220756.

Schweikert, L.S., Davis, A.L., Johnsen, S. and Bracken-Grissom, H.D. (2020). Visual perception of light organ patterns in deep-sea shrimps and implications for conspecific recognition. Ecology and Evolution 10, 9503-9513.

Davis, A. L., Thomas, K. N., Goetz, F. E., Robison, B. H., *Johnsen, S., and *K. J. Osborn (2020). Ultra-black camouflage in deep-sea fishes. Current Biology 30, 3470-3476 (*co-senior authors)

Davis, A. L., Sutton, T. T., Kier, W. M., and S. Johnsen (2020). Evidence that eye-facing photophores regulate counterillumination in an order of deep-sea fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences 287, 20192918.

Davis, A. L., Nijhout, H. F., and S. Johnsen (2020). Diverse nanostructures underlie thin ultra-black scales in butterflies. Nature Communications 11, 1294.

Davis, A. L., Babb, M. H., Lowe, M. C., Yeh, A. T., Lee, B. T. and C. H. Martin (2019). Testing Darwin’s hypothesis about the wonderful Venus Flytrap: Marginal spikes form a “Horrid Prison” for moderate-sized insect prey. American Naturalist 193, 309-317.

Davis, A. L., Hoover, A. P. and L. A. Miller (2019). Lift and Drag Acting on the Shell of the American Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus). Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 81, 3803–3822.