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DR DEVI STUART-FOX



Contact Details

Organization: Zoology
Position: LECTURER (ENV SCIENCE/TERRESTRIAL ECOL)
Email:
Homepage: http://www.zoology.unimelb.edu.au/research/groups/animal/labs/stuart-fox/index.php?424,4
Work: 83444846
Fax: 83447909
Room: 252
Level: 02
Building: Zoology Building
Campus: Parkville

Biography

I completed a BA in 1996 and BSc (Hons) in 1998 at the University of Queensland. I began my research career with projects on phylogeography and molecular systematics of lizards under the supervision of Craig Moritz, but quickly discovered that I wanted to know what my study animals did. My PhD on natural and sexual selection colour patterns in a group of dragon lizards therefore incorporated a strong behavioural element. I completed my PhD in 2002 at the the University of Queensland under the supervision of Ian Owens, Greg Johnston and Justin Marshall. Having developed a fascination for the evolution of animal visual signals, I chose to do a postdoc with Martin Whiting at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa on signaling in dwarf chameleons. I spent four years (2003-2006) in South Africa and have recently (2007) moved to Melbourne to take up an ARC postdoctoral fellowship and (deferred) lectureship.

Research Expertise and International Linkages

Research Expertise

Research Interest Key Words Country of Expertise
Evolutionary and behavioural ecology natural and sexual selection, animal visual systems, animal signaling and communication, camouflage and mimicry, phylogenetic comparative methods Australia, South Africa

Qualifications, Honours, Fellowships and Other Awards

Qualifications

Title Institution Date Awarded Abbreviation
Bachelor of Arts The University of Queensland 01-Dec-1996
Bachelor of Science, Honours Class I The University of Queensland 01-Dec-1998
PhD, Zoology The University of Queensland 14-Feb-2003

Memberships

Membership Type Membership Body Description Start Date End Date
Member Society for the Study of Evolution Member of the Soceity for the Study of Evolution 01-Jan-2004
Member Australian Society of Herpetologists Member of the Australian Society of Herpetologists 01-Jan-2001
Member Australasian Evolution Society Member of the Australasian Evolution Society 01-Jan-2007
Member Herpetological Association of Africa Member of the Herpetological Association of Africa 01-Jan-2003
Member Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour Member of the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour 01-Jan-2007

Other Awards

Award Type Awarding Body Comments Date Awarded
Medal University of Queensland University Medal for Academic Achievement 05-Feb-1999

Government Research Classifications

Research Fields, Courses and Discipline Classifications

Socio-Economic Objective Classifications

Grants and Contracts

Research Grants, Contracts and Consultancies awarded to the University of Melbourne as the administering institution (since 2003) as recorded in Themis Agreements.

Grants

Title Role Funding Source Scheme Award Date
THE EVOLUTION OF FEMALE RESISTANCE TO MALE REPRODUCTION TRAITS IN ANIMALS Chief Investigator AUST RESEARCH COUNCIL Discovery Projects 01/01/2007
Sexual selection in the sea: female promiscuity and male sperm competition in squid Chief Investigator HERMON SLADE FOUNDATION Grants 15/05/2008
ASSESSING THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF POLYANORY IN NATIVE SQUID Principal Supervisor ANZ CHARITABLE TRUSTS Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment Fund 03/06/2009

Additional Grant and Contract Information

2005-6 Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of the Witwatersrand (accepted)
2003-4 Claude Harris Leon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (accepted)
2003-4 UNESCO-L’Oreal Grant for Women in Life Sciences (US $20,000)
2001 Graduate School, University of Queensland – Travel Grant ($5,000)
2000 Alumni Association, University of Queensland - Elisabeth Usher Memorial Travel Scholarship ($2,500)
2000 Nature Foundation, South Australia, Inc. Research Grant ($4,500)
2000 Australian Geographic – small grant ($500)
1999-2002 Australian Postgraduate Award – stipend.

Publications

Publications produced at the University of Melbourne and reported in the Annual Publications Collection and 'Research Report' since 2001. The Themis Publications module, released in November 2006, allows additional publications from previous institutions and publications from past years to be entered.

Publications in 2009

Journal Articles

  • A phylogeny of the cannibal snails of southern Africa, genus Natalina sensu lato (Pulmonata: Rhytididae): Assessing concordance between morphology and molecular data
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
    Volume: 52
    Page numbers: 167-182
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  • Camouflage, communication and thermoregulation: lessons from colour changing organisms
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Royal Society of London Philosophical Transactions - Biological Sciences
    Volume: 364
    Page numbers: 463-470
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  • Can scent-mediated female make preference explain an abrupt mtDNA cline in Lacerta schreiberi?
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Behaviour
    Volume: 146
    Page numbers: 831-841
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  • Current genetic isolation and fragmentation contrasts with historical connectivity in an alpine lizard (Cyclodomorphus praealtus) threatened by climate change
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Biological Conservation
    Volume: 142
    Page numbers: 992-1002
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  • Processes driving male breeding colour and ecomorphological diversification in rainbow skinks: a phylogenetic comparative test
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Evolutionary Ecology
    Page numbers: 1-17
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  • Sex steroid correlates of female-specific colouration, behaviour and reproductive state in Lake Eyre dragon lizards, Ctenophorus maculosus
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Journal of Comparative Physiology A
    Volume: 195
    Issue: 7
    Page numbers: 619-630
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  • Variation in phenotype, parasite load and male competitive ability across a cryptic hybrid zone
    Year: 2009
    Journal: PLoS One
    Volume: 4
    Issue: 5
    Page numbers: e5677
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Publications in 2008

Journal Articles

  • A New Species of Treefrog (Hylidae, Litoria) from the Southern Lowlands of New  Guinea
    Year: 2008
    Journal: Current Herpetology
    Volume: 27
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 35-42
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  • Predator-specific camouflage in chameleons
    Year: 2008
    Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences
    Volume: 4
    Issue: 4
    Page numbers: 326-329
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  • Selection for Social Signalling Drives the Evolution of Chameleon Colour Change
    Year: 2008
    Journal: PLoS Biology
    Volume: 6
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 22-29
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Publications in 2006

Journal Articles

  • Camouflage and colour change: anti-predator responses to two predators across multiple populations in a dwarf chameleon
    Year: 2006
    Journal: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
    Volume: 88
    Page numbers: 437-446
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  • Habitat associations and conservation status of an indigenous forest restricted dwarf chameleon from southern Africa
    Year: 2006
    Journal: Oryx
    Volume: 40
    Page numbers: 183-188
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  • Multiple signals in chameleon contests: designing and analysing animal contests as a tournament
    Year: 2006
    Journal: Animal Behaviour
    Volume: 71
    Page numbers: 1263-1271
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  • Ornament evolution in dragon lizards: multiple gains and widespread losses reveal a complex history of evolutionary change
    Year: 2006
    Journal: Journal of Evolutionary Biology
    Volume: 19
    Page numbers: 797-808
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  • Testing game theory models: fighting ability and decision rules in chameleon contests
    Year: 2006
    Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences
    Volume: 273
    Page numbers: 1555-1561
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  • Ultraviolet signals ultra-aggression in a lizard
    Year: 2006
    Journal: Animal Behaviour
    Volume: 72
    Page numbers: 353-363
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Publications in 2005

Journal Articles

  • Deception and the origin of honest signals
    Year: 2005
    Journal: Trends in Ecology and Evolution
    Volume: 20
    Page numbers: 521-523
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  • Experience overrides colour in lizard contests
    Year: 2005
    Journal: Behaviour
    Volume: 142
    Page numbers: 329-350
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  • Male dwarf chameleons assess risk of courting large, aggressive females
    Year: 2005
    Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences
    Volume: 1
    Page numbers: 231-234
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Publications in 2004

Journal Articles

  • Evolution of color variation in dragon lizards: quantitative tests of the role of crypsis and local adaptation
    Year: 2004
    Journal: Evolution
    Volume: 58
    Page numbers: 1549-1559
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  • Sexual selection, natural selection and the evolution of dimorphic coloration and ornamentation in agamid lizards
    Year: 2004
    Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences
    Volume: 271
    Page numbers: 2249-2255
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Publications in 2003

Journal Articles

  • Conspicuous males suffer higher predation risk: visual modelling and experimental evidence from lizards
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Animal Behaviour
    Volume: 66
    Page numbers: 541-550
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  • Species richness in agamid lizards: chance, body size, sexual selection or ecology?
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Journal of Evolutionary Biology
    Volume: 16
    Page numbers: 659-668
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Publications in 2002

Journal Articles

  • A molecular phylogeny of rainbow skinks (Scincidae: Carlia): Taxonomic and biogeographic implications
    Year: 2002
    Journal: Australian Journal of Zoology
    Volume: 50
    Page numbers: 39-51
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Publications in 2001

Journal Articles

  • Comparative phylogeography of three rainforest-restricted lizards from mid-east Queensland
    Year: 2001
    Journal: Australian Journal of Zoology
    Volume: 49
    Page numbers: 119-127
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  • Ultraviolet reflectance in the small skink Carlia pectoralis
    Year: 2001
    Journal: Herpetological Review
    Volume: 32
    Page numbers: 16-17
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