CHRISTOPHER MARTIN
Ph.D. student, Graduate Group in Population Biology, University of California, Davis (2007-present)
B.S., Biology, Duke University (2005)
Research interests:
I am broadly interested in the evolution and ecology of adaptive radiations, particularly in fishes. Specifically, I aim to understand the ecological context of speciation, functional innovation, and niche transitions.
I am currently studying a sympatric radiation of Cyprinodon pupfishes on San Salvador island. This is one of the youngest vertebrate radiations (< 6,000 years old) and, in contrast to the algivorous diet of almost all other Cyprinodon species, it contains novel trophic specialists, including a specialized scale-biter, a hard-shelled prey specialist, and a large piscivore. I am investigating natural and sexual selection on trophic morphology within this adaptive radiation and morphological diversification rates across Cyprinodon.
Several recent publications:
Martin CH. 2009. Bower polymorphism in a Lake Malawi cichlid fish: costs, constraints, and female responses to dishonest male signaling. Behavioral Ecology . In review.
Martin CH, Genner MJ. 2009. A role for male bower size as an intrasexual signal in a Lake Malawi cichlid fish. Behaviour. 146:963-978. download pdf.
Martin CH, Genner MJ. 2009. High niche overlap between two successfully coexisting pairs of Lake Malawi cichlids. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 66:579-588. download pdf. supplementary data.
Martin CH, Johnsen S. 2007. A field test of the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 61:1897-1909. download pdf.
For more information about Chris's research, check out his CV or contact him at chmartin@ucdavis.edu.
DAN WARREN
Ph.D. student, Graduate Group in Population Biology, University of California, Davis (2003-present)
B.S., Biology, The University of Oklahoma and Florida State University (FSU: 2003).
Research interests:
I'm interested in the evolution, diversification, and distributions of marine fish species. I am also interested in developing analytical methods and computational tools for answering evolutionary and ecological questions.
Several recent publications
Brandley, M.C., D.L. Warren, A.D. Leache, and J.A. McGuire. Accepted with revision. Homoplasy and clade support. Systematic Biology.
Warren, D.L., R.E. Glor, and M. Turelli. 2008. Environmental niche equivalency versus conservatism: quantitative approaches to niche evolution. Evolution 62:2868-2883. The ENMTools software that was developed for this project is available here. Please feel free to subscribe to the blog, and email Dan to have your name added to the mailing list for updates and news.
Nylander, J., Wilgenbusch, J., Warren, D.L., & D. Swofford. 2008. AWTY (Are We There Yet?): a system for graphical exploration of MCMC convergence in Bayesian phylogenetics. Bioinformatics 24:581-583. Available at http://ceb.csit.fsu.edu/awty.
Brandley, M.C., Leaché, A.D., Warren, D.L., & J.A. McGuire. 2006. Are unequal clade priors problematic for Bayesian phylogenetics? Systematic biology 55:11, 138-146
For more information about Dan's research, contact him at danwarren@ucdavis.edu.
RITA MEHTA
Postdoctoral researcher, Section of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis (June 2005-present)
Ph.D., University of Tennessee (May 2005)
M.S., University of Texas (2001)
B.A., University of California, Berkeley (1999)
My research focuses on the evolution of feeding behaviors in elongate vertebrates. I am specifically interested in the evolution of morphological and behavioral innovations related to feeding. For my doctoral research, I studied constriction behavior, a key behavioral innovation in snake evolution. I examined how constriction behavior varies across taxa and whether the muscle activity patterns during constriction are congruent with the variation observed at the behavioral level. More recently, I have been examining the feeding kinematics of Echidna nebulosa, the snowflake eel (above).
Several recent publications:
Mehta, R. S. and P. C. Wainwright. 2007. Raptorial pharyngeal jaws help moray eels swallow large prey. Nature 449:79-82. The article is available here.
For more information about Rita's research, visit her web site or contact her at rsmehta@ucdavis.edu.
ROI HOLZMAN
Postdoctoral Fellow, Section of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis (2007-Present)
Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellow, Section of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis (2006-2007)
Ph.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Dec 2006)
M.Sc., Hebrew University of Jerusalem (June 2002)
B.A., Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1998)
Research interests:
My research aims at understanding the functional mechanisms underlying the performance of tasks relevant to an organism’s fitness. I address broad questions about the ways functional diversity has evolved and is maintained, using experimental approaches, hydrodynamic modeling, physical theory and phylogenetic comparative methods. Currently, I apply these approaches to study performance consequences of variation in morphology and kinematics within the complex and highly kinetic musculoskeletal system of ray-finned fish skulls. By using the force exerted on the prey as a novel metric of suction feeding performance, I was able to identify multiple functional components that determine feeding performance. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, I use these insights to investigate whether general principles underlie the evolution of complex functional systems. Thus, I integrate insights from biomechanics and functional morphology into investigations of the evolutionary ecology of performance. To read about my other projects, including my doctoral research on predator-prey interaction between nocturnal fish and their zooplankton prey, please visit my home page.
Several recent publications:
Holzman, R., and P.C. Wainwright (in press). How to surprise a copepod: Strike kinematics reduce hydrodynamic disturbance and increase stealth of suction feeding fish. Limnology & Oceanography.
Holzman, R ., D.C. Collar, S.W. Day, Bishop K.L. and P.C. Wainwright. (2008) Scaling of suction-induced flows in bluegill: morphological and kinematic predictors for the ontogeny of feeding performance. Journal of Experimental Biology 211:2658-2668.
Holzman, R. , S.W. Day, Mehta R.S. and P.C. Wainwright. (2008) Jaw protrusion enhances forces exerted on prey by suction feeding fishes. Journal of the Royal Society, Interface 5:1445-1457.
[see news coverage of this paper on ScienceNow.]
Holzman, R. S.W. Day and P.C. Wainwright. (2007) Timing is everything: coordination of strike kinematics affects the force exerted by suction feeding fish on attached prey. Journal of Experimental Biology 210: 3328-3336.
For more information about Roi's research, visit his web site or contact him at raholzman@ucdavis.edu
MATTHEW MCGEE
Ph.D. student, Graduate Group in Population Biology, University of California, Davis (2007-present)
B.S., Biology, UNC Chapel Hill (2006)
Research interests:
I am interested in evolutionary ecomorphology, with a particular
emphasis on functional trait evolution in genomic systems. I am
currently addressing questions involving parallel adaptation and
speciation in the threespine stickleback model system from a
functional morphology perspective.
Recent publications:
Pfennig DW, McGee M. Resource polyphenism increases species
richness: a test of the hypothesis. Philosophical Transaction of the
Royal Society of London, Series B. In press. download pdf.
For more information about Matt's research, contact him at mcgee@ucdavis.edu.
KRISTIN BISHOP
Postdoctoral Researcher, Section of Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Davis (January 1, 2007 – present)
Ph.D., Brown University, July 2006
B.S., University of Washington, 1994
Research interests:
Animal physiology and biomechanics have provided deep insights into how the major functional systems operate. We understand much about how animals swim, fly, run, breathe, and eat. But while the mechanics and energetics of each behavior may have common mechanisms that are broadly applicable across animal species, a major goal in functional morphology is to understand how diversity in structure leads to diversity in function in each of these systems. One way to organize this effort is to focus on the consequences that morphological and functional diversity has on organismal performance – or the ability of animals to perform these crucial tasks in their day-to-day life. My research focuses on broad questions about the relationship between morphological diversity and variation in the performance of specific tasks and how functional changes resulting from these differences drive evolutionary patterns.
Suction feeding, in which rapid expansion of the oral cavity creates a flow of water into the mouth that draws in food items, is a common feeding method in fish. Despite the fact that almost all fishes use suction feeding, there is a surprising amount of diversity in feeding morphology that appears to result in variation in the mechanics of feeding behavior and patterns of prey use. At least two features of the flow of water generated by suction feeders external to their mouth are likely to be particularly important in determining the success of a feeding attempt: high fluid speed and large volume flow rate. Interestingly, there may be a trade-off among species between fluid speed and the volume of water that is displaced during suction feeding. In my research, I am working to better understand the morphological and kinematic basis for this tradeoff in species of fish that use these different feeding strategies. Detailed information about the time course of shape changes in the skull during feeding combined with characterization of the resulting flow field around the mouth will allow more precise modeling of the mechanics of oral expansion, which will allow investigation of the performance consequences of diversity in feeding morphology and kinematics.
Several recent publications:
Bishop, K.L. in review. Aerodynamic force production and stability during gliding in the sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps.
Galvao, R., Israeli, E., Song, A., Tian, X., Bishop, K., Swartz, S. and Breuer, K.S. The aerodynamics of compliant membrane wings modeled on mammalian flight. AIAA Paper 2006-2866. San Francisco, CA. June 2006.
Bishop, K.L. 2006. The relationship between 3-D kinematics and gliding performance in the southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans. J. Exp. Biol. 209: 689-701.
For more information about Kristin's research, contact her at kvwbishop@ucdavis.edu.
LARS SCHMITZ
DFG Postdoctoral Fellow, Section of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis (starting 2009)
Ph.D. Geology, University of California, Davis (June 2008)
Diplom (M.Sc. equivalent), University of Bonn (2003)
Vordiplom (B.S. equivalent), University of Bonn (2003)
Research interests:
My main research interest is the evolution of morphological and functional diversity of vertebrate eyes. I am specifically interested in the evolution of morphological features of the eye in relation to ecology and the physical characteristics of the environment. One of the major questions I address is if the evolution of different parts of the visual system, such as the optical system and the physiology of the retina, is coupled.
The research of my dissertation largely focused on the macroanatomy of terrestrial amniote, with the overall goal to develop quantitative methods to estimate eyeball soft-tissue dimensions and diel activity pattern in fossil archosaurs. Furthermore, I have worked on Triassic marine reptiles, including field work in Nevada and China.
Several recent publications:
Schmitz L. 2009. Quantitative estimates of visual performance features in fossil birds. Journal of Morphology 270, 759-773. download pdf.
For more information about Lars's research, contact him at lschmitz@ucdavis.edu.
SAMANTHA PRICE
Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis (November 2008-present)
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, USA (2005-2008)
Ph.D. University of Virginia (Sept 2005)
B.A., Oxford University, UK (June 2001)
Research interests:
I seek to understand the fundamental processes driving large-scale macroevolutionary and macroecological patterns by utilising phylogenetic comparative methods. My previous research focused on mammalian evolution, in particular cetacean size and life history evolution as well as an ongoing collaborative project set on the evolution of mammalian dietary strategies. I also dabble in phylogenetics, in particular methods for combining previously published trees into new phylogenies (supertrees). In the Wainwright lab I am applying my skills to understanding the evolution of the labrid radiation from a morphological perspective and occasionally building molecular phylogenies.
Several recent publications:
Price SA, Gittleman JL. 2007. Hunting to extinction: biology and regional economy influence extinction risk and the impact of hunting in artiodactyls. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274:1845-1851.
Bininda-Emonds ORP, Cardillo M, Jones KE, MacPhee RDE, Beck RMD, Grenyer R, Price SA, Vos RA, Gittleman JL, Purvis A. 2007. The delayed rise of present-day mammals. Nature 446:507-512.
Ezenwa VO, Price SA, Altizer S, Vitone ND, Cook KC. 2006. Host traits and species richness in even and odd-toed hoofed mammals, Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla. Oikos 115:526-536.
Price SA, Bininda-Emonds ORP, Gittleman AL. 2005. A complete phylogeny of the whales, dolphins and even-toed hoofed mammals (Cetartiodactyla). Biological Reviews 80:445-473.
For more information about Sam's research, contact her at saprice@ucdavis.edu.
