KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format.
Fall-Winter 2025-2026 KLI Colloquium Series
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923
25 Sept 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
A Dynamic Canvas Model of Butterfly and Moth Color Patterns
Richard Gawne (Nevada State Museum)
14 Oct 2025 (Tues) 3-4:30 PM CET
Vienna, the Laboratory of Modernity
Richard Cockett (The Economist)
23 Oct 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
How Darwinian is Darwinian Enough? The Case of Evolution and the Origins of Life
Ludo Schoenmakers (KLI)
6 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Common Knowledge Considered as Cause and Effect of Behavioral Modernity
Ronald Planer (University of Wollongong)
20 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Rates of Evolution, Time Scaling, and the Decoupling of Micro- and Macroevolution
Thomas Hansen (University of Oslo)
4 Dec (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Chance, Necessity, and the Evolution of Evolvability
Cristina Villegas (KLI)
8 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Embodied Rationality: Normative and Evolutionary Foundations
Enrico Petracca (KLI)
15 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
On Experimental Models of Developmental Plasticity and Evolutionary Novelty
Patricia Beldade (Lisbon University)
29 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Jan Baedke (Ruhr University Bochum)
Event Details

Topic description / abstract:
Unlike the stripes of zebras or the networks of spots found on the coats of cheetahs, the color patterns of butterflies and moths are composed of a limited number of homologous characters that are fully analogous to better known systems of homologs, such as the bones of pentadactyl limbs. This talk will introduce my recent work on the development and evolution of wing patterning in the tiger moths (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). These animals show an enormous amount of phenotypic variation both within and across species. I will provide some preliminary hypotheses about the genetic and morphogenetic basis of this diversity, and introduce a new theoretical archetype that allows us to make sense of the patterns of the roughly 11,000 existent species of arctiids.
Biographical note:
Richard Gawne is a developmental and evolutionary biologist, currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the KLI. He holds a PhD in Biology from Duke University. Richard completed his dissertation on the development and evolution of wing patterning in the bella moth Utetheisa ornatrix in 2017, under the supervision of Fred Nijhout. Before coming to the KLI, he was a visiting researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and a Fulbright fellow at the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Social Evolution.