Centre for Evolutionary Biology

All publications can be downloaded from here

Research interests
I am interested in understanding how evolution shapes phenotypes and the genetic architecture that builds them. I have mostly been interested in the role that sexual selection plays in these processes, but I am becoming increasingly interested in the role of environmental variability and population genetics. My current research funding concentrates on the nature of condition and condition-dependence in sexual selection and, in collaboration with Natasha LeBas, on the evolution of alternative male reproductive tactics.

Opportunities
I have a well funded lab and there are always opportunities to work with me and my collaborators – email me.

	THE EVOLUTION OF ALTERNATIVE REPRODUCTIVE TACTICS \| I have been collaborating with Wade Hazel, the pioneer of quantitative genetic models of the conditional strategy, and have recently reviewed the status of the conditional evolutionarily stable strategy, advocating a quantitative genetic approach. I am interested in testing these theoretical models of the evolution of male ‘threshold’ traits, principally using earwigs (Dermaptera), dung beetles (Coleoptera) and mites (Acari) as model systems. These systems generate insights into sexual selection in the field, the allometry of dimorphic expression and lab evolution of threshold characters respectively.

	CONDITION AND CONDITION-DEPENDENCE IN SEXUAL SELECTION AND ADAPTATION \| The concept of ‘condition’ is widely used but poorly understood. Primarily the use of condition has been as a phenotypic character; however I am interested in identifying the genetic basis of condition as a means of gaining greater understanding of its properties. The genetic properties of condition have stimulated my interest in the interplay between condition-dependence and adaptation.

	POSITIVE ALLOMETRY AND SEXUAL SELECTION \| Allometry is the study of the proportionality of organs, traits, or investment. I am interested in the allometry of primary and secondary sexual traits. Research in collaboration with Rob Knell on the allometry of stag beetles jaws has demonstrated that in some of the more elaborate species the limits to elaboration have been met (Knell et al 2004). I have also been collaborating with Natasha LeBas and Janne Kotiaho on the allometric basis to male dimorphisms in dung beetles and earwigs. Our data show how positive allometry can play an important role in the dimorphic reaction norms present in the morphology of many insect species (Tomkins et al 2005).

	PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY, INTEGRATION AND SECONDARY SEXUAL TRAIT COMPENSATION \| We interested how organisms devote resources to structures that increase their reproductive success directly – secondary sexual traits – but also in the structures that support or facilitate such traits or displays. The compensation for elaborate structures like the horns of the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus requires some developmental integration between the display trait and the morphological traits that make display possible. Where organisms are dimorphic, this integration is likely to be plastic. We are investigating the phenotypic (Tomkins et al 2005) and genetic basis to this phenomenon in the dung beetle O. taurus and the European earwig Forficula auricularia.

	DIRECTIONAL SELECTION AND THE MAINTENANCE OF ADDITIVE GENETIC VARIANCE \| A longstanding evolutionary question, that keeps scores of us in a job, is how genetic variance in fitness related life-history traits is maintained under directional selection. I have been involved in empirical (Kotiaho et al 2000), theoretical (Colegrave et al) and review-orientated (Tomkins et al 2004) approaches to this subject. Currently, I am examining population variation in female choice and the quantitative genetic variation in secondary sexual traits in isolated island populations of the earwig Forficula auricularia. And, in collaboration with Dr Janne Kotiaho using the bean weevil Callosobruchus maculatus and Dr Jacek Radwan using S. berlesei, I am testing the genic-capture model of condition dependent trait expression using quantitative genetic techniques.

	THE EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANCE OF DEVELOPMENTAL INSTABILITY \| I have conducted comparative studies of the evolution of fluctuating asymmetry across species of earwigs (Tomkins and Simmons 1995) and in species with male dimorphisms (Tomkins and Simmons 1996). I have also investigated the heritability of asymmetry in earwig forceps (Tomkins and Simmons 1999) and hypothesis that individuals pay attention to asymmetries in the secondary sexual traits (forceps) of earwigs (Tomkins and Simmons 1999). I am also interested in the changes in effect size through time of studies addressing the hypothesis that FA is involved in sexual selection (Tomkins and Simmons 2003). I am currently furthering my investigations (Tomkins 1999) into the ontogeny of fluctuating asymmetries in hemimetabolous insects, and the relationship between phenodeviation and developmental instability.

Career

11/2006 – present ARC, Australian Research Fellowship, University of Western Australia
01/2005 – 11/2006 Royal Society, University Research Fellowship, University of Exeter at Cornwall
05/2000 – 12/2005 BBSRC, David Phillips Research Fellowship, University of St Andrews
07/1999 – 05/2000 ARC, Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, University of Western Australia
07/1998 – 12/1998 University of Western Australia, Fellowship Bursary
03/1997 – 03/1998 Royal Society, Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Western Australia
10/1993 – 02/1997 PhD, University of Liverpool, Sexual Selection & the Evolution of Earwig Forceps
10/1990 – 06/1993 BSc Hons, University of Sheffield, Zoology II:i

Group Members

Gordon Brown (PhD student,University of St Andrews). Gordon recently completed his PhD on the phylogeography of the European earwig Forficula auricularia in the British Isles. Through Gordon’s work we have increased our understanding of the genetic history of population divergence in male morph ratios in the European earwig. His work focused particularly on island populations in the Firth of Forth in Scotland and the Farne islands in Northumberland, UK.

Satu Paukku (PhD student, co-supervised with Janne Kotiaho, Jyväskylä, Finland). Satu’s research has been on the quantitative genetics of reproductive costs in the bean weevil Callosobruchus maculatus. This work was conducted in part at the University of St Andrews. She has completed her PhD and is currently a post-doc in Jyväskylä.

Ulec Unrug (PhD student, co-supervised with Jacek Radwan, Krakow, Poland). Ulec’s PhD As part of our ongoing collaborations with Jacek Radwan, Ulec spent three months in St Andrews conducting a selection experiment in the mite S. berlesei. He managed six generations in three months! His results have since been published in Proc. B.

Lukasz Michalczyk and Piotr Lukasik (Masters students, co-supervised with Jacek Radwan, Krakow). Lukasz and Piotr visited St Andrews from Jacek’s group at the Jagiellonian. Both worked on experiments quantifying fitness functions in the mite S. berlesei. These experiments contributed to their Masters degrees. Lukasz is currently doing a PhD at UEA with Matt Gage. Piotr is looking for PhD places.

External collaborators

Nick Colegrave University of Edinburgh UK.

Matt Gage University of East Anglia, UK.

Wade Hazel DePauw University USA.

Rob Knell Queen Mary College, University of London, UK.

Janne Kotiaho University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.

Jacek Radwan Jagiellonian Krakow, Poland.

Tom Tregenza University of Exeter at Cornwall, UK.

Ken Wilson University of Lancaster, UK.

Joseph L Tomkins