Joey DiBattista, a PhD student in my lab from 2005-2009, forged an NSF-funded collaboration between Drs. Hendry (McGill), Gruber (Florida), and Feldheim (Chicago Field Museum) to study the evolutionary dynamics of a natural population of lemon sharks at Bimini, Bahamas. Part of the novelty is that were able to bring some of the typical tools of evolutionary biology, such as selection analyses and quantitative genetics, to a large marine vertebrate, which had not (for logistical reasons) previously been attempted. Here are some of the fruits of his labors.
Publications:
1. DiBattista, J.D., K.A. Feldheim,
D. Garant, S.H. Gruber, and A.P. Hendry. 2011.
Anthropogenic disturbance and evolutionary parameters: a lemon shark population
experiencing habitat loss. Evolutionary
Applications 4:1-17. PDF
2. DiBattista, J.D., K.A. Feldheim,
D. Garant, S.H. Gruber, and A.P. Hendry. 2009.
Evolutionary potential of a large marine vertebrate: quantitative genetic
parameters in a wild population. Evolution
63:1051-1067. PDF
3. DiBattista, J.D., K.A. Feldheim,
S.H. Gruber, and A.P. Hendry. 2008a. Are indirect genetic benefits associated
with polyandry? Testing predictions in a natural population of lemon sharks. Molecular Ecology 17:783-795. PDF
4. DiBattista, J.D., K.A. Feldheim,
X. Thibert-Plante, S.H. Gruber, and A.P. Hendry.
2008b. A genetic assessment of polyandry and breeding
site fidelity in lemon sharks. Molecular
Ecology 17:3337-3351. PDF
5. DiBattista, J.D., K.A. Feldheim,
S.H. Gruber, and A.P. Hendry. 2007. When bigger is not better: selection
against large size, high condition, and fast growth in juvenile lemon sharks. Journal of Evolutionary Biology
20:201-212. PDF