At every meal, herbivores face the risk of being poisoned by their food. Plants defend themselves against herbivores using a diverse arsenal of toxins, and in turn, herbivores have evolved counter adaptations to avoid being poisoned when dining on their preferred plants. This evolutionary arms race between plants and herbivores has greatly contributed to the diversity of life on Earth. 

We study this arms race from the perspective of the herbivore, where we combine ecological, physiological, and genetic approaches to unravel the mechanisms that allow mammalian herbivores to successfully feed on plants.