Daniele Cataldo

My contact with CIBIO-InBIO started in 2014 when I started my bachelor (Licenciatura) internship, focused on the study of wing skeletal adaptations of the Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) across its geographical range. Later, I developed my Master’s thesis in Ecology and Environment where I identified phenotypic differences (both in colouration and morphology) between insular and continental populations of the woodpigeon (Columba palumbus). Different selective pressures are expected to be felt by populations in islands, related to differences in habitat, use of resources and migratory behaviour as well as other life-history traits.

This way, my main research interest centers on the comparison of morphological patterns between insular and continental bird populations as well as between populations with different migratory behaviour. This allows to better understand evolutionary and adaptive aspects in birds and provide updated knowledge to be considered in future conservation planning.