Dag TREER

Dag has been fascinated with amphibians since his early childhood. For his PhD, he studied chemical communication in newts at the Amphibian Evolution Lab. His main focus was the identification of molecules used in sexual communication with the paramount challenge of their functional characterization. He now continues to work with newts to study the evolution of different modalities of sexual communication in amphibians.

Van Bocxlaer, I., Maex, M., Treer, D., Janssenswillen, S., Janssens, R., Vandebergh, W., Proost, P. & F. Bossuyt, 2016. -Beyond sodefrin: evidence for a multi-component pheromone system in the model newt Cynops pyrrhogaster(Salamandridae). Scientific Reports, 6: 21880.

Janssenswillen, I., Willaert, B. Treer, D., Vandebergh, W., Bossuyt, F. & I. Van Bocxlaer, 2015 - High pheromone diversity in the male cheek gland of the red-spotted newt Nothophthalmus viridescens (Salamandridae). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15: 54.

Van Bocxlaer, I., Treer, D., Maex, M., Vandebergh, W., Janssenswillen, S., Stegen, G., Kok, P., Willaert, B., Matthijs, S., Martens, E., Mortier, A., de Greve, H., Proost, P. & F. Bossuyt, 2015 - Side-by-side secretion of late Palaeozoic diverged courtship pheromones in an aquatic salamander. Proceedings of the Royal Society B London, 282: 20142960.

Janssenswillen, S., Vandebergh, W., Treer, D., Willaert, B., Maex, M., Van Bocxlaer, I. & F. Bossuyt, 2015 - Origin and diversification of a salamander sex pheromone system. Molecular Biology & Evolution 32 (2): 472-480.

Willaert, B., Bossuyt, F., Janssenswillen, S., Adriaens, D., Baggerman, G., Matthijs, S., Pauwels, E., Proost, P., Raepsaet, A., Schoofs, L., Stegen, G., Treer, D., Van Hoorebeke, L., Vandebergh, W. & I. Van Bocxlaer, 2013 - Frog nuptial pads secrete mating season-specific proteins related to salamander pheromones. The Journal of Experimental Biology 216, 4139-4143.

Treer, D., Van Bocxlaer, I., Matthijs, S., Du Four, D., Janssenswillen, S., Willaert, B. & F. Bossuyt, 2013 - Love Is Blind: Indiscriminate Female Mating Responses to Male Courtship Pheromones in Newts (Salamandridae). PLoS ONE, 8(2): e56538.