MARLENE ZUK
Professor of Biology
Office: 3344 Spieth Hall
Phone (951) 827-3952
E-mail: marlene.zuk@ucr.edu
Degree:
Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1986
I am interested in behavioral ecology, the study of the evolution of behavior. My research centers on sexual selection and the effects of parasites on mate choice and the evolution of secondary sex characters. I am also interested more generally in the influence of parasites on host ecology and behavior. Currently, I have two major projects underway. First, I am examining the effects of conflicting selection pressures on song structure in a Pacific field cricket subject to an acoustically-orienting parasitoid fly. Second, I am beginning work on the evolution of disease resistance in the context of sexual selection using a variety of cricket species which differ in male mating effort.
Dr. Zuk participates in the Evolutionary Biology graduate group and the Intercampus Research Program on Experimental Evolution (UCIRPEE). She is also active in the Animal Behavior Society.
Some Representative Publications....
- Zuk, M. and Johnsen, T.S. in press. Social environment and immunity in male red jungle fowl. Behavioral Ecology.
- Zuk, M. and Kolluru, Gita R. 1998. Exploitation of sexual signals by predators and parasitoids. The Quarterly Review of Biology 73:415-438.
- Zuk, M., Rotenberry, J.T., and L.W. Simmons. 1998. Calling songs of field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) with and without phonotactic parasitoid infection. Evolution 52:166-171.
- Zuk, M. and K.A. McKean. 1996. Sex differences in parasite infections: patterns and processes. International Journal of Parasitology 26:1009-1024.
- Zuk, M., T. S. Johnsen and T. MacLarty. 1995. Endocrine-immune interactions, ornaments and mate choice in red jungle fowl. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, in press.
- Zuk, M. 1993. Feminism and the study of animal behavior. BioScience 43:774-778.
- Zuk, M., L. W. Simmons and L. Cupp. 1993. Calling characteristics of parasitized and unparasitized populations of the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 33:339-343.
- Zuk, M. 1992. The role of parasites in sexual selection: current evidence and future directions. Advances in the Study of Behavior 21:39-68.
Click here for a complete publication list.
Recent Teaching....
- Biology 40, Disease and History
- Biology 110, Biology of Human Problems
- Biology 163, Evolutionary Ecology of Terrestrial Vertebrates
- Biology 213, Behavioral Ecology