The Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology - EGI Current Member

Departmental Lecturer

Current Members | Former Members | Photos

Dr. Joseph Tobias

Details

Name: Dr. Joseph Tobias
Position: Departmental Lecturer
Email: joseph.tobias@zoo.ox.ac.uk

Autobiography

After completing a PhD at Cambridge (1996), I worked with BirdLife International and IUCN, co-authoring a series of conservation action plans and books. I joined the EGI in January 2006, took up a Departmental Lectureship in January 2009, and became a Research Fellow of Somerville College in October 2009.

Research Activities

I work at the interface of evolutionary biology, behaviour, ecology and conservation. I use a range of methods, including field experiments and phylogenetic analyses, to understand the forces generating biodiversity, shaping phenotypes and structuring the natural world. The main themes of my research are as follows:

Understanding the evolution of animal signals and signalling behaviour, and their role in premating reproductive isolation
Disentangling the roles of ecological, sexual and social selection in the evolution of phenotypic diversity
Explaining spatial patterns of biodiversity and community structure
Understanding the impacts of land use and climate change on biodiversity in tropical systems
Using genotypes and phenotypes to quantify biodiversity and delimit species units for science and conservation

Further details about study systems and specific projects can be found in my group pages: Tropical Ecology and Conservation Biology.

Media and Outreach

I am interested in communicating about science and conservation to the public. My work has been widely covered in newspapers, on radio and on the web (see below), and features in several education sites (e.g. Today's Science). I have written popular articles about tropical research and ornithology (e.g. 1, 2), and produced local and regional field guides and education materials for tropical countries (e.g. hummingbirds; antbirds; Bolivian birds).

Other Information

I am a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, a Senior Research Fellow of the Centre for Tropical Research (University of California, Los Angeles), and a member of the Conservation Biology Association, the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, the European Society of Evolutionary Biology, and the Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests. I currently convene undergraduate courses on Evolutionary Ecology and Quantitative Methods, and teach on Adaptations to the Environment, Sensory Ecology and Tropical Ecology. I also lecture on science and the media to graduate students, and run bird weeks for the annual undergraduate fieldcourses at Orielton, Pembrokeshire, and Danum Valley, Borneo. For a full list of publications click here, and for a gallery of images, pdfs, and more information about ongoing projects www.neomorphus.com.

Selected Papers

Derryberry EP, Seddon N, Claramunt S, Tobias JA, Baker A., Aleixo A, Brumfield RT (2012) 'Magic traits' in suboscine birds: correlated evolution of beak morphology and song in the Neotropical woodcreeper radiation. Evolution In press.

Tobias, J. A., Gamarra-Toledo, V., Garcia-Olaechea, D., Pulgarin, P. C. & Seddon, N. (2011) Year-round resource defence and the evolution of male and female song in suboscine birds: social armaments are mutual ornaments. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24: 2118-2138. | Read paper

Hoffmann, M. and 163 others including J. A. Tobias (2010) The impact of conservation on the status of the world's vertebrates. Science Read paper | Nature News | Guardian | Wall St Journal | LA Times

Tobias, J.A., Seddon, N., Spottiswode, C. N., Pilgrim, J. D., Fishpool, L. D. C. & Collar, N. J. 2010. Quantitative criteria for species delimitation Ibis 152: 724-746. | Read paper | Read reviews in Nature & Ibis

Tobias, J.A., Aben, J., Brumfield, R. T., Derryberry, E., Halfwerk, W., Slabbekoorn, H. & Seddon, N. 2010. Song divergence by sensory drive in Amazonian birds Evolution 64: 2820–2839. | Read paper | Front cover

Seddon, N. & Tobias, J.A. 2010. Character displacement from the receiver's perspective: species and mate-recognition despite convergent signals in suboscine birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277: 2475-2483. | Read paper

Tobias, J.A. & Seddon, N. 2009. Sexual selection and ecological generalism are correlated in antbirds. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22: 623-636. | Read paper | Front cover

Tobias, J.A., Bates, J.M., Hackett, S., & Seddon, N. 2008. Comment on "The Latitudinal Gradient in Recent Speciation and Extinction Rates of Birds and Mammals". Science 319: 901c. | Read paper

Seddon, N., Merrill, R. M. & Tobias, J.A. 2008. Sexually selected traits predict patterns of species richness in a diverse clade of suboscine birds. American Naturalist 171: 620-631. | Read paper

Tobias, J.A. & Brightsmith, D. J. 2007. Distribution, ecology and conservation status of the Blue-headed Macaw Primolius couloni. Biological Conservation 139: 126-138. | Read paper

Seddon, N. & Tobias, J.A. 2007. Song divergence at the edge of Amazonia: an empirical test of the peripatric speciation model. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society 90: 173-188. | Read paper

Download complete list of publications

Current Member - Dr. Joseph Tobias