![[picture of Dr. Wilkinson]](jw.gif)
Department of Biology
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742
| email: | wilkinso @ umd.edu |
| phone: | (301) 405-6942 (office) |
| (301) 405-6914 (lab) | |
| fax: | (301) 314-9358 |
| office: | 2223 Biology-Psychology |
Research Interests
Dr. Wilkinson conducts research on the evolution of social behavior, with emphasis on how genetic mechanisms may influence the outcome of evolution. Recent research in the lab addresses several controversial topics in animal behavior: sexual selection, genomic conflict, cooperation and communication. Stalk-eyed flies are being used as a model system for studying the evolution of sexually selected traits. Our recent empirical and theoretical results have surprisingly implicated meiotic drive as a potent evolutionary agent which can catalyze sexual selection. Using quantitative trait locus studies we have recently confirmed the prediction that sex-linked genes that influence a sexually selected trait are linked to genes causing sex chromosome meiotic drive. In addition, crosses between SE Asian populations are being conducted to determine if sex chromosome meiotic drive is involved in speciation. We are also using microarrays to find candidate genes involved in elongation of eyestalks. Bats in the neotropics and in the US are being studied in the lab and field to understand how communication mediates cooperation and social learning.
Recent Courses
Awards and Honors
| 1988 | Searle Scholar |
| 1989 | Lilly Fellow |
| 1997 | Distinguished Scholar Teacher |
| 2001 | Faculty Research Award, College of Life Sciences |
| 2003 | Fellow, Animal Behaviour Society |
| Quest Award, Animal Behaviour Society | |
| 2007 | President, Animal Behaviour Society |
Current Lab Members
| Emily Amitin | Graduate student | Gametic isolation in stalk-eyed flies |
| Bryan Arnold | Graduate student | Communication in pallid bats |
| Bea Mao | Graduate student | Social communication in bats |
| Gerry Carter | Graduate student | Cooperation in vampire bats |
| Julie Samy | Graduate student | Social organization of Asian elephants |
| Genni Wright | Graduate student | Social learning in bats |
Lab Alumni
| Jon Ballou | Pop. Manager | Dept of Cons. Biol, National Zoological Park | |
| Jon Beadell | Postdoc | Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University | dissertation |
| Leanna Birge | Postdoc | Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas | |
| Kisi Bohn | Postdoc | Dept of Biology, Texas A&M University | dissertation |
| Jenny Boughman | Assist. Professor | Dept of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison | |
| Sarah Christianson | Washington, D.C. | dissertation | |
| Eduardo Eizirik | Assist. Professor | Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | |
| Pete Fauth | Assoc. Professor | Dept of Biology, Hartwick College | |
| Catherine Fry | Postdoc | AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, NSF | |
| Erin Gillam | Assist. Professor | North Dakota State University | |
| Ahmad Hariri | Assist. Professor | Dept of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh | |
| Philip Johns | Assist. Professor | Bard College | |
| Sue Davidson | Sr. Partner | MediaCom, New York, NY | |
| Marion Kotrba | Curator of Diptera | Museum of Zoology, Munich | |
| Pat Lorch | Assist. Professor | Department of Biology, Kent State University | |
| Jason Munshi-South | Assist. Professor | Baruch College, City University of New York | |
| Tami Panhuis | Postdoc | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | |
| Traci Porter | Assist. Professor | Salem College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina | |
| Daven Presgraves | Assist. Professor | Dept of Biology, University of Rochester | |
| Paul Reillo | Director | Rare Species Conservatory, Loxahatchee, Florida | |
| Suzy Steele | Research Scientist | Dept of Conservation and Science, Dallas Zoo | |
| John Swallow | Assoc. Professor | Dept of Biology, University of South Dakota | |
| LaReesa Wolfenbarger | Assoc. Professor | Dept of Biology, University of Nebraska, Omaha | |
| Tim Wright | Assist. Professor | Dept of Biology, New Mexico State University |
Representative Publications
| 1982 | Wilkinson, G. S. and English-Loeb, G. M. Predation and coloniality in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota). Auk 99: 459-467. |
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| 1984 | Wilkinson, G. S. Reciprocal food sharing in the vampire bat. Nature 308: 181-184. |
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| 1985 | Wilkinson, G. S. The social organization of the common vampire bat. I. Pattern and cause of association. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 17: 111-121. |
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| Wilkinson, G. S. The social organization of the common vampire bat. II. Mating system, genetic structure and relatedness. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 17: 123-134. |
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| Wilkinson, G. S. and McCracken, G. F. On estimating relatedness with genetic markers. Evolution 39: 1169-1174. |
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| 1986 | Wilkinson, G. S. Social grooming in the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus. Animal Behaviour 34: 1880-1889. |
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| 1987 | Wilkinson, G. S. Equilibrium analysis of sexual selection in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 41: 11-21. |
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| Wilkinson, G. S. and Baker, A. E. M. Communal nursing among genetically similar house mice. Ethology 77: 103-114. | ||
| Wilkinson, G. S. Altruism and cooperation in bats. In: Recent Advances in the Study of Bats (Fenton, M. B., Racey, P. A. and Rayner, J. M. V., eds.) pp. 299-323. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. | ||
| Wilkinson, G. S. Social organization and behavior. In: Natural History of Vampire Bats (Greenhall, A. M. and Schmidt, U., eds.) pp. 85-97. CRC Press, Boca Raton. | ||
| 1988 | Wilkinson, G. S. Reciprocal altruism in bats and other mammals. Ethology and Sociobiology 9: 85-100. | |
| Winkler, D. W. and Wilkinson, G. S. Parental effort in birds and mammals: Theory and measurement. Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology 5: 185-214. | ||
| 1990 | Wilkinson, G.S., Fowler, K. and Partridge, L. Resistance of genetic correlation structure to directional selection in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 44:1990-2003. |
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| Wilkinson, G. S. Food sharing in vampire bats. Scientific American 262: 76-82. | ||
| 1991 | Wilkinson, G.S. and Chapman, A. Length and sequence variation in evening bat d-loop mt DNA. Genetics 128: 607-617 |
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| 1992 | Wilkinson, G. S. Information transfer at evening bat colonies. Animal Behaviour 44: 501-518. |
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| Wilkinson, G. S. Communal nursing in the evening bat Nycticeius humeralis. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 31:225-235. |
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| 1993 | Scherrer, J. A. and Wilkinson, G. S. Evening bat isolation calls provide evidence for heritable signatures. Animal Behaviour 46:847-860. |
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| Lorch, P., Wilkinson, G. S. and Reillo, P. R. Copulation duration and sperm precedence in the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis whitei (Diptera: Diopsidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 32:303-311. |
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| Wilkinson, G. S. Artificial sexual selection alters allometry in the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni (Diptera: Diopsodae). Genetical Research 62:213-222. | ||
| 1994 | Wilkinson, G. S. and Reillo, P.R. Female choice response to artificial selection on an exaggerated male trait in a stalk-eyed fly. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 255:1-6 |
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| 1995 | Wilkinson, G.S. Information transfer in bats. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 67:345-360. |
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| Shaw, F.H., Shaw, R.G., Wilkinson, G.S. and Turelli, M. Changes in genetic variances and covariances: G whiz! Evolution 49:1260-1267. |
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| 1996 | Wilkinson, G.S. and Fleming, T.H. Migration and evolution of lesser long-nosed bats, Leptonycteris curasoae, inferred from mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Ecology 5:329-339 |
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| 1997 | Wilkinson, G.S., Mayer, F., Kerth, G., and Petri, B. Evolution of repeated sequence arrays in the D-loop region of bat mtDNA. Genetics 146: 1035-1048 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and Dodson, G.N. Function and evolution of antlers and eye stalks in flies. In: The Evolution of Mating Systems in Insects and Arachnids. (J. Choe and B. Crespi, eds.). pp. 310-328. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. |
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| Presgraves, D., Severance, E. and Wilkinson, G.S. Sex chromosome drive in stalk-eyed flies. Genetics 147:1169-1180 |
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| 1998 | Wilkinson, G. S., Presgraves, D.C. and Crymes, L. Male eye span in stalk-eyed flies indicates genetic quality by meiotic drive suppresion. Nature 391:276-279 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and Boughman, J. W. Social calls coordinate foraging in greater spear-nosed bats. Animal Behaviour 55:337-350 |
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| Boughman, J.W. and Wilkinson, G.S. Greater spear-nosed bats discriminate group mates by vocalizations. Animal Behaviour 55:1717-1732 |
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| Hariri, A., Werren, J.H., and Wilkinson, G.S. Distribution and reproductive effects of Wolbachia in stalk-eyed flies. Heredity 81:254-260 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S., Kahler, H., and Baker, R.W. Evolution of female mate preferences in stalk-eyed flies. Behavioral Ecology 9:525-533 |
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| 1999 | Presgraves, D.C., Baker, R.H. and Wilkinson, G.S. Coevolution of sperm and female reproductive tract morphology in stalk-eyed flies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 266:1041-1048 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and Taper, M. Evolution of genetic variation for condition dependent ornaments in stalk-eyed flies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 266:1685-1690 |
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| Panhuis, T. and Wilkinson, G.S. Exaggerated male eye span influences contest outcome in stalk-eyed flies. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 46:221-227 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and Boughman, J.W. Social influences on foraging in bats. In: Mammalian Social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives. (H.O. Box and K.R. Gibson, eds.) pp. 188-204, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. |
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| Tschapka, M. and Wilkinson, G.S. Free-ranging vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus, Phyllostomidae) survive 15 years in the wild. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 64:239-240. |
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| Lande, R. and Wilkinson, G.S. Models of sexual selection and meiotic drive in stalk-eyed flies. Genetical Research 74:245-253. |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. Cooperation. In: Frontiers in Life, V.8 Biology of Behavior. (P. Bateson and E. Allevi, eds.). Academic Press, New York |
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| 2000 | McCracken, G.F. and Wilkinson, G.S. Bat mating systems. In: Reproductive Biology of Bats. (E.G. Crichton and P.H. Krutzsch, eds.). pp. 321-362. Academic Press, New York |
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| Swallow, J.G., Wilkinson, G.S. and Marden, J.H. Aerial performance of stalk-eyed flies that differ in eyespan. Journal of Comparative Physiology, B 170:481-487 |
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| Flavin, M., O'Kelly, C.J., Nerad, T.A,. and Wilkinson, G.S. Cholamonas cyrtodiopsidis gen. n., sp n. (Cercomonadida), an endocommensal, mycophagous heterotrophic flagellate with a doubled kinetid. Acta Protozoologica 39: 51-60 | ||
| 2001 | Porter, T. and Wilkinson, G.S. Reproductive synchrony in greater spear-nosed bats, Phyllostomus hastatus. Journal of Zoology, London 253:383-390 |
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| Baker, R.H., Wilkinson, G.S. and DeSalle, R. The phylogenetic utility of different types of molecular data used to infer evolutionary relationships among stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae). Systematic Biology 50:1-20 |
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| Wolfenbarger, L.L. and Wilkinson, G.S. Sex-linked expression of a sexually selected trait in the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni. Evolution 55:103-110 |
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| Wright, T. and Wilkinson, G.S. Population genetic structure and vocal dialects in amazon parrots. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 268:609-616 |
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| Baker, R.H. and Wilkinson, G.S. Phylogenetic analysis of eye stalk allometry and sexual dimorphism in stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae). Evolution 55: 1373-1385 |
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| Reggia, J.A., Schulz, R., Wilkinson, G.S. and Uriagereka, J. Conditions enabling the emergence of inter-agent signalling in an artificial world. Artificial Life 7:3-32 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. Genetic consequences of sexual selection in stalk-eyed flies. In: Model Systems in Behavioral Ecology. (L. Dugatkin, ed.) pp. 72-91. Princeton University Press, Princeton |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and Sanchez, M.L. Sperm development, age and sex chromosome meiotic drive in the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis whitei. Heredity 87:17-24 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. Bat blood donors. In: The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. (D. Macdonald and S. Norris, eds.) pp. 766-767. Andromedia Oxford Limited, Abingdon. |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and Fry, C.L. Meiotic drive alters sperm competitive ability in stalk-eyed flies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 268:2559-2564 |
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| 2002 | Davidson, S.M. and Wilkinson, G.S. Geographic and individual variation in vocalizations by male Saccopteryx bilineata (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae). Journal of Mammalogy 83:526-535 |
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| Swallow, J.G. and Wilkinson, G.S. The long and short of sperm polymorphisms in insects. Biological Reviews 77:153-182 |
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| Ortega, J., Maldonado, J.E., Arita, H.T., Wilkinson, G.S., Fleischer, R.C. Characterization of microsatellite loci in the Jamaican fruit-eating bat Artibeus jamaicensis and cross-species amplification. Molecular Ecology Notes 2:462-464. |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and South, J.M. Life history, ecology and longevity in bats. Aging Cell 1: 124-131 appendix |
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| 2003 | Baker, R. and Wilkinson, G.S. Phylogenetic analysis of correlation structure in stalk-eyed flies (genus Diasemopsis, Diopsidae). Evolution 57: 87-103 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S., Swallow, J.G., Christianson, S.J. and Madden, K. Phylogeography of sex ratio and multiple mating in stalk-eyed flies from southeast Asia. Genetica 117:37-46 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. and McCracken, G.F. Bats and balls: Sexual selection and sperm competition in the Chiroptera. In: Bat Ecology. (T.H. Kunz and M.B. Fenton, eds.) pp. 128-155. University of Chicago Press, Chicago |
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| Wilkinson, G.S. Social and vocal complexity in bats. In: Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture and Individualized Societies. (F.B.M. de Waal and P.L. Tyack, eds.) pp. 322-341. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA |
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| Ortega, J., Maldonaldo, J.E., Wilkinson, G.S., Arita, H.T. and Fleischer, R.C. Male dominance, paternity and relatedness in the Jamaican fruit-eating bat (Artibeus jamaicensis). Molecular Ecology 12:2409-2415 |
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| Wagner, K., Reggia, J.A., Uriagereka, J. and Wilkinson, G.S. Progress in the simulation of emergent communication and language. Adaptive Behavior 11:37-69. |
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| 2004 | Bohn, K.M., Boughman, J.W., Wilkinson, G.S. and Moss, C.F. Auditory sensitivity and frequency selectivity in greater spear-nosed bats suggest specializations for acoustic communication. Journal of Comparative Physiology, A 190:185-192 |
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| Davidson, S.M. and Wilkinson, G.S. Function of male song in the greater white-lined bat, Saccopteryx bilineata. Animal Behaviour 67:883-891 |
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| Fry, C.L. and Wilkinson, G.S. Sperm survival in female stalk-eyed flies depends on seminal fluid and meiotic drive. Evolution 58:1622-1626 |
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| Wright, T.F., Johns, P.M., Walters, J.R., Lerner, A.P., Swallow, J.G., and Wilkinson, G.S. Microsatellite variation among divergent populations of stalk-eyed flies, genus Cyrtodiopsis. Genetical Research 84:27-40 |
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| 2005 | Wilkinson, G.S. and Johns, P.M. Sexual selection and the evolution of fly mating systems. In: The Biology of the Diptera. (D.K. Yeates and B.M. Weigmann, eds.) pp. 312-339. Columbia University Press, New York |  |
| Christianson, S.J., Swallow, J.G., and Wilkinson, G.S. Rapid evolution of postzygotic reproductive isolation in stalk-eyed flies. Evolution 59:849-857 |
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| Wilkinson, G.S., Amitin, E.G., and Johns, P.M. Sex-linked correlated responses in female reproductive traits to selection on male eye span in stalk-eyed flies. Integrative and Comparative Biology 45:500-510 |
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| Johns, P.M., Wolfenbarger, L.M. and Wilkinson, G.S. Genetic linkage between a sexually selected trait and X chromosome meiotic drive. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 272:2097-2103 |
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| Swallow, J.G., Wallace, L.E., Christianson, S.J., Johns, P.M. and Wilkinson, G.S. Genetic divergence does not predict change in ornament expression among populations of stalk-eyed flies. Molecular Ecology 14:3787-3800. |
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| 2006 | Pitnick, S., Jones, K.E. and Wilkinson, G.S. Mating system and brain size in bats. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 273: 719-724. |
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| Munshi-South, J. and Wilkinson, G.S. Diet influences life span in parrots (order Psittaciformes). Auk 123: 108-118. |
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| Munshi-South, J. and Wilkinson, G.S. Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in Bornean treeshrews (Tupaia spp.). Molecular Ecology Notes 6:698-699. |
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| Bohn, K.M., Moss, C.F. and Wilkinson, G.S. Correlated evolution between hearing sensitivity and social calls in bats. Biology Letters 2:561-564. |
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| Wilkinson, G.S., Johns, P.M., Kelleher, E.S., Muscedere, M.L. and Lorsong, A. Fitness effects of X chromosome drive in the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19:1851-1860. |
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| 2007 | Bohn, K.M., Wilkinson, G.S. and Moss, C.F. Discrimination of infant isolation calls by female greater spear-nosed bats, Phyllostomus hastatus. Animal Behaviour 73: 423-432. |
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| Johns, P.M. and Wilkinson, G.S. X chromosome influences sperm length in the stalk-eyed fly Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni. Heredity 99: 56-61. |
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| 2009 | Brunet-Rossinni, A.K. and Wilkinson, G.S. Methods for age estimation and the study of senescence in bats. In: Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats. (T.H. Kunz and S. Parsons, eds.) pp. 315-325. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. |
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| Bohn, K.M., Moss, C.F. and Wilkinson, G.S. Pup guarding by greater spear-nosed bats. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63:1693-1703. |
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| Ribak, G., Pitts, M.L., Wilkinson, G.S. and Swallow, J.G. Wing shape, wing size, and sexual dimorphism in eye-span in stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 98:860-871. |
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| Baker, R.H., Morgan, J., Wang, X., Boore, J.L. and Wilkinson, G.S. Genomic analysis of a sexually-selected character: EST sequencing and microarray analysis of eye-antennal imaginal discs in the stalk-eyed fly Teleopsis dalmanni (Diopsidae). BMC Genomics 10:361 |
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| 2010 | Munshi-South, J. and Wilkinson, G.S. Bats and birds: Exceptional longevity despite high metabolic rates. Ageing Research Reviews 9:12-19. |
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