THEODORE GARLAND, Jr.

Distinguished Professor of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
Office: 2366 Spieth Hall
Phone: (951) 827-3524

E-mail: tgarland "at" ucr.edu

Degree: Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1985

Random News and Announcements:

I became Editor in Chief of the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology on 1 July 2014. Read my Editorial describing changes that we implemented at the journal.

          New Website on the High Runner Mice

Hueyfest: a Symposium in Honor of Ray Huey's contributions to Physiological Ecology: 4 Oct. 2013 in Seattle
Slides from My Talk in Honor of Ray, with help from Steve Adolph

JoeFest: a symposium in Honor of Joe Felsenstein's career
Slides from My Talk at the symposium: "Zen and the Art of Phylogenetically Independent Contrasts"

Links:
 
Lab Homepage

IDEA, the Institute for the Development of Educational Applications

YouTube Videos on the High Runner Mice

Lab Wiki (members only)

All Publications and PDF files

Publications on the Mouse Selection Experiment

Video of Mice Running on Wheel (Girard et al. 2001)
Video (1 hour 8 min): Dr. Garland Public Lecture on "Born to Run: Evolution of Hyperactivity in Mice" 29 Oct. 2009 (1 h 8 min)
Video (1 min 23 sec): Dr. Garland discussing "How to run far: Multiple solutions and sex-specific responses to selective breeding ..."    PDF file
Video (7 min 50 sec): Dr. Garland discussing the High Runner mice in a short video

Profile in Google Scholar Citations

Inquiry-Based Middle School Lesson Plan -- "Born to Run: Artificial Selection Lab"
PDF version
on my homepage (latest, with live links to all other files)

Nature or Nurture? Heritability in the Classroom (college or advanced high school)

Simulating Random Genetic Drift (college or high school)

I am featured in FAIL LAB Episode One: Evolution, part of an educational video series funded through the Discovery Digital Network and intended to target teenagers

Textbook Features on our Research:
Box on phylogenetically independent contrasts in 2004 Evolutionary Analysis text by Freeman and Herron
Two-page Box on the mouse selection experiment in 2006 Comparative Physiology text by Moyes and Schulte

Two-pages on the mouse selection experiment in 2014 Evolutionary Analysis text by Herron and Freeman (with contributions by Hodin, Miner, Sidor)
Page discussing a selection experiment on mouse maternal aggression by Stephen Gammie that Ted helped with in 2014 Evolutionary Analysis text by Herron and Freeman


Curriculum Vitae (not current)

Evolutionary Physiology Links

Experimental Evolution Links

Table of Contents for:
Garland, T., Jr., and M. R. Rose, eds. 2009. Experimental evolution:
     concepts, methods, and applications of selection experiments.
     University of California Press, Berkeley, California. [here's the entire book as a PDF file]

Caveats About Undergraduate Research

How to Structure and Name Data Files

 

     Most of the research in my laboratory involves the evolution of complex phenotypes.  Through empirical, theoretical, and methodological studies, we are also helping to develop the field of evolutionary physiology (Links: e.g., see Annual Review of Physiology [1994] 56:579-621 [PDF file]).
     Physiology is the study of how organisms work.  Evolution is the study of how organisms have changed (genetically) across generations.  Thus, evolutionary physiology is the study of how and why the way organisms work has changed over time.  For example, does the way an organism work constrain the way it may evolve?  Answers to such questions require a deep understanding of both proximate and ultimate mechanisms, including phenotypic plasticity and early-life effects.  Accordingly, my graduate students come through the Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology Graduate Program in the Department of Biology, as well as the Neuroscience Graduate Program, Genetics, Genomics & Bioinformatics Graduate Program, and the Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences.  I also participate in the
Evolutionary Biology Joint-Doctoral Program with San Diego State University.  I serve as UCR co-Associate Director of NERE, the Network for Experimental Research on Evolution.  As physiology cannot properly be understood in isolation from genetics, morphology, biochemistry, and behavior, my general approach is integrative and hence crosses traditional boundaries between disciplines.

     Our laboratory is equipped to make a variety of sophisticated whole-animal physiological and behavioral measurements.  We have concentrated on activity metabolism because many natural behaviors (e.g., escaping from predators, foraging) depend crucially on capacities for locomotion.  I have worked primarily on lizards, snakes, and small mammals, but I recognize the value of both "model" and "non-model" systems and am always amenable to work with other organisms.  Although most of our efforts involve exercise physiology and locomotor behavior, graduate students have worked on a variety of other projects, including:  the evolution of reproductive timing in seals; behavioral/physiological ecology and conservation biology of desert tortoises; reproductive and conservation biology of lizards on a Spanish island; development of a monitoring program for endangered species of small mammals.  In addition, we have collaborated with scientists from many countries, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, and The United Kingdom.

PDAP: Phenotypic Diversity Analysis Programs  (software to perform phylogenetically based statistical analyses)

PDTREE module in Mesquite  (JAVA-based software to perform phylogenetically based statistical analyses) (Documentation as Microsoft Word file)

PHYSIG  (MatLab programs to perform phylogenetically based statistical analyses)

PHYLOGR  (R language code to perform phylogenetically based statistical analyses)

Photos by Ted Garland:  The Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) in Australia [fullsize image], Mouse on running wheel as used in the selection experiment [fullsize image], Lizard (Lacerta agilis) in France on treadmill for endurance test [fullsize image].


Click here for a Complete Publication List with PDF Files

Selected Recent Publications:


Selected Teaching:



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Last updated 16 September 2020 by T.G.