Roger T. Hanlon, Ph.D. will be the speaker at the December 11th Evenings at Whitney lecture. Hanlon is a recognized expert in the field of adaptive coloration or camouflage. His work on octopus and cuttlefish has been featured in the New York Times, on the PBS program Nova and a variety of other natural history TV channels. The title of his presentation is The octopus: nature’s most spectacular color change artist. Hanlon is a Senior Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He became interested in cephalopods when he encountered an octopus on a coral reef in Panama in 1968. Its body patterning and changing coloration intrigued him, and he is still working to understand its brain and behavior.
Nearly all animals have some sort of adaptive coloration or camouflage, mostly as a primary defense against predators. But the octopus and its fellow cephalopods may be the ultimate adaptors. A distinguishing feature of cephalopods is that individual animals can change their appearance with a speed and diversity unparalleled in the animal kingdom. Moreover, some squids, octopuses and cuttlefish can show 30-50 different appearances. During his Evenings at Whitney lecture, Hanlon will discuss how and why these strange but beautiful creatures achieve such astounding behavior.

The Evenings at Whitney lectures occur on the first or second Thursday of each month depending on the speaker. They are always held at 7:00 p.m. in the Whitney Lab’s Center for Marine Studies. Monthly presentations include current science topics, plus subjects from on-going research programs at the Whitney Lab. Speakers are recognized experts in their fields who welcome questions and discussion. All lectures are free and open to the public. There is no charge for parking and reservations are not necessary. Please visit www.whitney.ufl.edu for lecture schedules or contact the Whitney Lab at (904) 461-4000.

The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience is a biomedical and biotechnology research institute of the University of Florida. It is made up of eleven different internal labs that use marine organisms for basic biological research that can be applied to human health, natural resources, and the environment. The Lab provides training for future experimental biologists, educational programs for kindergarten through university level students, and monthly lectures for the general public. It is located at 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine, on the border of Flagler and St. Johns counties. To learn more about the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience visit their website at www.whitney.ufl.edu.