Thomas Blankers

Assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam

Krapf, P., Blankers, T., Kulmuni, J., 2026. Do the benefits of hybridization outweigh the costs under conditions of global change? EcoEvoRxiv

Bisschop, K, Wortel, M. T., Kraaijeveld, K., Mariën, J., Rathmann, I., ... Blankers T. 2026. Additive effects of environmental and demographic variation shape the repeatability of evolution across replicated experiments. Evolution Letters: qrag017

Guerra, D., Blankers, T., Kraak, M. H. S., Burdfield-Steel, E. R. 2026. The Impact of Environmental Pollution on Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) and the Role of Climate Change as an Interactive Stressor. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Fruitet, E., De Jong, R., Blankers, T., Groot, A. T., Burdfield-Steel, E. R. 2026. Resource limitation reveals that high acetate levels in Heliothis subflexa sex pheromone blend are associated with reduced fitness. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 39: 137-147.

Verheggen, F., Allmann, S., Stopka, P., Pappas, M., Avila, C., Prado, S., Romano, G.; Blankers, T., Vanderplanck, M., Colazza, S., Bagnères, A.G., 2024. European chemical ecologists translate the language of life into sustainability. Entomologia Generalis 44: 477-478

Blankers, T., Shaw, K.L. 2024. The biogeographic and evolutionary processes shaping population divergence in Laupala. Molecular Ecology 33, e17444

Groot A. T, Blankers, T., Halfwerk, W., Burdfield-Steel, E. 2024. The Evolutionary Importance of Intraspecific Variation in Sexual Communication Across Sensory Modalities. Annual Reviews of Entomology 69:1

W. H. Waller, Blankers, T., Xu, M., Shaw, K.L. 2023. Quantitative trait loci underlying a speciation phenotype. Insect Molecular Biology 32:592-602

Wortel, M.T., Agashe, D., Bailey, S. F., Bank, C., Bisschop, K., Blankers, T., ... Pennings, P.S. 2023. Towards evolutionary predictions: current promises and challenges. Evolutionary Applications 16:3-21

Bisschop, K., Blankers, T., Mariën, J., Wortel, M.T., Egas, M., Groot, A.T., Visser, M.E. & Ellers, J. 2022. Population bottleneck has only marginal effect on fitness evolution and its repeatability in dioecious Caenorhabditis elegans. Evolution 76: 1896-1904

Blankers, T.; Fruitet, E.; Burdfield-Steel, E. & Groot, AT. 2022. Experimental evolution of a pheromone signal. Ecology and Evolution 12: e8941

Blankers, T.; Lievers, R; Plata, C; van Wijk, M; van Veldhuizen, D & Groot, AT. 2021. Sex pheromone signal and stability covary with fitness. Royal Society Open Science 8: 210180

Blankers, T., Oh, K.P. & Shaw, K.L. 2019. Parallel genomic architecture underlies repeated sexual signal divergence in Hawaiian Laupala crickets. Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 286: 20191479

Blankers, T., Berdan E.L., Hennig, R.M. & Mayer, F. 2019. Physical linkage and mate preference generate linkage disequilibrium for behavioral isolation in two paraptric field crickets. Evolution 73: 777–791

Blankers, T., Oh, K.P., Bombarely, A., & Shaw, K.L. 2018. The genomic architecture of a rapid island radiation: recombination rate variation, chromosome structure, and genome assembly of the Hawaiian cricket Laupala. Genetics 209: 1329–1344

Blankers, T., Oh, K.P. & Shaw, K.L. 2018. The genetics of a behavioral speciation phenotype in an island system. Genes 9: E346

Blankers, T., Block, R. & Hennig, R.M. 2018. Codivergence but limited covariance of wing shape and calling song structure in field crickets (Gryllus). Evol. Biol. 45: 144-155

Blankers, T., Vilaca, S.T., Waurick, I., Gray, D.A., Hennig, R.M., Mazzoni, C.J. & Mayer, F, Berdan, E.L. 2018. Demography and selection shape transcriptomic divergence in field crickets. Evolution 72: 553-567

Blankers, T., Gray, D.A. & Hennig, R.M. 2017. Multivariate phenotypic evolution: divergent acoustic signals and sexual selection in Gryllus field crickets. Evol. Biol. 44: 43-57

Gray, D.A., Blankers, T. & Hennig, R.M. 2016. Multivariate female preference tests reveal latent perceptual biases. Proc. Roy. Soc. B: Biol. Sci. 283: 1842

Blankers T. 2016. Acoustic communication, sexual selection, and speciation in field crickets. Phd Thesis. https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/18205

Berdan, E.L., Blankers, T., Waurick, I., Mazzoni, C.J., & Mayer, F. 2016. A genes eye view of ontogeny: De novo assembly and profiling of the Gryllus rubens transcriptome. Mol. Ecol. Res. 16:1478-1490

Hennig, R.M., Blankers, T. & Gray, D.A. 2016. Divergence in male cricket song and female preference functions in three allopatric sister species. J. Comp. Phys. A. 202:347-60

Blankers, T., Lübke, A.K. & Hennig, R.M. 2015. Phenotypic variation and covariation indicate high evolvability of acoustic communication in crickets. J. Evol. Biol. 28: 1656-1669

Blankers, T., Hennig, R.M. & Gray, D.A. 2015. Conservation of multivariate female preference functions and preference mechanisms in three species of trilling field crickets. J. Evol. Biol. 28: 630–641

Blankers, T., Townsend, T.M., Pepe, K., Reeder, T.W. & Wiens, J.J. 2013. Contrasting global-scale evolutionary radiations: Phylogeny, diversification, and morphological evolution in the major clades of iguanian lizards. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 108: 127–143

Blankers, T., Adams, D.C. & Wiens, J.J. 2012. Ecological radiation with limited morphological diversification in salamanders. J. Evol. Biol. 25: 634–646