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Name:
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Dr. Jeff McKinnon
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Title:
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Professor, Chair
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Area of Study:
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Evolution--sexual selection, speciation, in fish
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Phone:
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252-328-5258
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Fax:
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252-328-4718
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E-mail:
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mckinnonj@ecu.edu
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Office:
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N108 Howell Science
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Address:
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East Carolina University
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Department of Biology
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Greenville, NC 27858
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Education
Ph.D.: Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 1994.
M.Sc.: Zoology (Marine Ecology), University of Guelph, Canada, 1988.
B.Sc.: Honors, Zoology, University of British Columbia, Canada, 1984.
Research Program
1. The Evolution of Female Display Traits: We noticed that many female sticklebacks had conspicuous red throats in one of our study populations and became interested in the evolution of such traits. This is currently the main project for students in my laboratory (although work on the other two areas described above is ongoing). As part of this effort, Katie Peichel (Washington) and I are collaborating on a study of the molecular genetic basis of female coloration that will take advantage of some of the training I have lately received in stickleback genomics. Other approaches we are pursuing include behavioral experiments on mate choice and intra-sexual interactions, and comparative work on visual ecology and predation.
2. Color Polymorphism Maintenance and Speciation: We have been conducting theoretical, synthetic and empirical work on the maintenance of color polymorphisms and their potential contribution to speciation. Our empirical work focuses mainly on the telmatherinid fishes of Sulawesi's Malili Lakes (Indonesia). I feel particularly connected to this place because I first started traveling there as a teenager, to visit two of my uncles who were working at a Canadian mine in the area. I have also become involved in conservation efforts there. Suzanne Gray did a very nice Ph.D. on this system (at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia) with Larry Dill and myself as her co-advisors.
3. The Evolution of Reproductive Isolation through Divergent Ecological Selection: This work is focused on ecology's role, through natural and sexual selection, in the evolution of reproductive isolation. Our main study organism is the threespine stickleback, in particular stream-resident and anadromous populations from a wide variety of locales. This work has involved a large number of collaborators around the world, but especially Dolph Schluter (U.B.C.) and David Kingsley (Stanford).
Courses Taught
BIOL 6850. Advances in Ecology.
BIOL xxxx (TBA). Research Mentoring Seminar.
Recent Publications (*student co-author)
Pauers*, M.J., T.J. Ehlinger and J.S. McKinnon In press. Male and female visual preferences suggest reproductive isolation between populations of the Lake Malawi endemic Labeotropheus fuelleborni. Current Zoology.
Kuzoff, R., S.B. Kemmeter*, J.S. McKinnon and C.P. Thompson* 2009. Phylogenetic Analysis: How Old are the Parts of Your Body? Evolution: Education and Outreach 2: 405-414.
Gray*, S.M., L.M. Dill, F.Y. Tantu, E.R. Loew and J.S. McKinnon 2008. Environment contingent sexual selection in a colour polymorphic fish. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 275: 1785-91.
Gray*, S.M., J.S. McKinnon, F.Y. Tantu and L.M. Dill 2008. "Sneaky eating" in Telmatherina sarasinorum, an endemic fish from Lake Matano, Sulawesi. Journal of Fish Biology 73:728-731.
Chunco*, A., J.S. McKinnon and M. Servedio 2007. Microhabitat variation and sexual selection can maintain male color polymorphisms. Evolution 61:2504-2515.
Gray*, S.M. and J.S. McKinnon (corresponding author) 2007. Linking color polymorphism maintenance and speciation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22:71-79.
Gray*, S.M., L.M. Dill and J.S. McKinnon 2007. Cuckoldry incites cannibalism: male fish turn to cannibalism when perceived certainty of paternity decreases. American Naturalist 169:258-263.
Gray*, S.M. and J.S. McKinnon 2006. A comparative description of mating behaviour in the endemic telmatherinid fishes of Sulawesi's Malili Lakes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 75:471-482.
Pauers*, M.J., J.S. McKinnon and T.J. Ehlinger 2004. Directional sexual selection on chroma and within-pattern colour contrast in Labeotropheus fuelleborni. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Suppl.--Biology Letters), 271:S444-S447.
McKinnon, J.S., S. Mori, B. Blackman*, L. David, D. Kingsley, L. Jamieson*, J. Chou*and D. Schluter 2004. Evidence for ecology's role in speciation. Nature 429:294-298.
Schluter, D., E.A. Clifford*, M. Nemethy* and J.S. McKinnon 2004. Parallel evolution and inheritance of quantitative traits. American Naturalist 163:809-822.
Laboratory Personnel
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Lengxob Yong
PhD Student
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Shane Wright
MS Student
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