V. Louise Roth, Professor  

V. Louise Roth

In addition to conceptual work on the biological bases of homology, variation, and parallel evolution, my research has focused on evolutionary changes in size and shape in mammals: the functional consequences of these changes, and the evolutionary modifications of ontogenetic processes that produce them. This work makes use of DNA sequences, morphometric data, and geographic distributions to study macroevolutionary changes within a phylogenetic context. Projects have included DNA sequence phylogenies of squirrels, "virtual" (synchrotron radiation microCT) histology of bone growth in elephants and mammoths, experimental work on prenatal maternal effects on body size in large insular deermice, and morphometric studies of growth in elephants, dwarfism in an insular (Pleistocene) dwarf mammoth, and gigantism in insular deermice.

Education:
Ph.D., Yale University, 1982

Office Location: 241 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone: +1 919 660 7352
Email Address: vlroth@duke.edu

Specialties:
Evolution
Developmental Biology
Organismal Biology and Behavior
Systematics

Research Categories: Morphological and molecular evolution in mammals: size, shape, and ontogeny

Research Description: In addition to conceptual work on the biological bases of homology, variation, and parallel evolution, my research has focused on evolutionary changes in size and shape in mammals: the functional consequences of these changes, and the evolutionary modifications of ontogenetic processes that produce them. This work makes use of DNA sequences, morphometric data, and geographic distributions to study macroevolutionary changes within a phylogenetic context. Projects have included DNA sequence phylogenies of squirrels, experimental work on prenatal maternal effects on body size in large insular deermice, and morphometric studies of growth in elephants, dwarfism in an insular (Pleistocene) dwarf mammoth, and gigantism in insular deermice.

Representative Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

  1. Price, SA; Hopkins, SSB; Smith, KK; Roth, VL, Tempo of trophic evolution and its impact on mammalian diversification., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 109 no. 18 (May, 2012), pp. 7008-7012 [doi]  [abs].
  2. Durst, PAP; Roth, VL, Classification tree methods provide a multifactorial approach to predicting insular body size evolution in rodents., The American naturalist, vol. 179 no. 4 (April, 2012), pp. 545-553 [22437183], [doi]  [abs].
  3. Curtin, AJ; MacDowell, AA; Schaible, EG; Roth, VL, Noninvasive histological comparison of bone growth patterns among fossil and extant neonatal elephantids using synchrotron radiation X-ray microtomography, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 32 no. 4 (July, 2012), pp. 939-955, Informa UK Limited [doi]  [abs].
  4. Chi, K-J; Louise Roth, V, Scaling and mechanics of carnivoran footpads reveal the principles of footpad design., Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, vol. 7 no. 49 (August, 2010), pp. 1145-1155 (with 18 pp of Electronic Supplementary Material.) [doi]  [abs] [author's comments].
  5. Louise Roth, V; Mercer, JM, Differing rates of macroevolutionary diversification in arboreal squirrels, Current Science, vol. 95 no. 7 (October, 2008), pp. 857-861  [abs].
  6. Roth, VL, Variation and versatility in macroevolution, in Variation, a Central Concept in Biology, edited by HallgrÍmsson, B; Hall, BK (2005), pp. 455-474, Academic Press [doi]  [abs] [author's comments].
  7. Mercer, JM; Roth, VL, The effects of Cenozoic global change on squirrel phylogeny., Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 299 no. 5612 (March, 2003), pp. 1568-1572 (Supporting Online Material: www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/ 1079705/DC1.) [12595609], [doi]  [abs].
  8. Roth, VL, Ecology and evolution of dwarfing in insular elephants, in The World of Elephants: Proceedings of the 1st International Congress, pp. 507-509, edited by Cavarretta, PG; Mussi, M; Palombo, MR (2001), pp. 507-509, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche: Rome .
  9. Roth, VL, Character replication, in The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology, pp. 81-107, edited by Wagner, GP (2001), pp. 81-107, Academic Press .