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Department of Biology
The University of Louisiana at Monroe Monroe, LA 71209-0520 USA RESEARCH INTERESTS
My general areas of interest are in the ecology and systematics of amphibians and reptiles. My particular expertise is in the ecology and systematics of turtles, especially freshwater turtles. Current and continuing areas of interest include the following: Current foci of this work include distributional surveys of state wildlife management areas and other protected areas in northeastern Louisiana. In addition, detailed studies of particular species are under way, including alligator snapping turtles, softshelled turtles, and map turtles. This species-rich genus of tropical New World turtles was the focus of my dissertation research. Within the past few year, this interest has been reinvigorated by the opportunity to collaborate with a Colombian colleague (Alan Giraldo at Universidad del Valle) and student to work with R. nasuta on an island off the Pacific coast of Colombia as part of a course I taught there in May 2005. We have received additional funding to continue our studies, and support the thesis research of an additional student. This research is an outgrowth of my participation on the ULM expedition to Guinea in West Africa led by Frank Pezold in 2002. Our attempts to capture turtles were fruitless, but we had great success with toads (now referred to Amietophrynus). As a consequence, I set out to work on a molecular phylogeny of our West African material, which has subsequently blossomed into an examination of the phylogeny of a major radiation of subSaharan Bufo (Amietophrynus) from all parts of Africa in collaboration with Jennifer Pramuk and Eli Greenbaum. I have been handling identification of voucher specimens and surveying morphological variation in West African species. Depending the outcome of our molecular phylogenetic analysis, there may be additional morphological work needed to complete the study. This is a longstanding interest, with many years of data collection related to this topic. I am interested in discovery of new taxonomic characters and extension of known characters to a wider array of taxa. The characters involved include such features as hyoids, scleral ossicles, penes, cloacal bursae, and carapacial seam contacts. GRADUATE STUDENTS
Eli B. Greenbaum (B.S. - SUNY-Binghamton) Lori Woosley (B.S. - Southern Illinois University) Thesis ASSESSMENT OF PATERNITY IN ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE (MACROCHELYS TEMMINCKII) CLUTCHES Completion Date: August 2006 Ashley Hudson (B.S. - Valdosta State University) Thesis Project SPATIAL USE BY HATCHLING ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLES, MACROCHELYS TEMMINCKII, AT BLACK BAYOU LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Estimated Completion: fall 2007 Matt Brown (B.S. - Valdosta State University) Thesis Project HERPETOFAUNAL SURVEY OF BOEUF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA IN CALDWELL AND CATAHOULA PARISHES, LOUISIANA Estimated completion: spring 2008 Josh Brown (B.S. - Penn State University) Thesis Project ECOLOGY OF THE RAZOR-BACKED MUSK TURTLE, STERNOTHERUS CARINATUS, IN A NORTHERN LOUISIANA BAYOU Estimated Completion: spring 2008 |
