*Community Assembly and Co-evolution - Organisms living together in a community must be representatives of a larger regional pool and posses the necessary physiological characteristics to both occupy their environment and coexist with other species in their community. I am interested in understanding the historic processes that shape and dictate the assembly of communities, as well as how the ecology of co-existing members affects species’ distribution. I am comparing assembly processes in snake communities of the temperate southeastern United States and the tropical Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil.
  1. -Additionally I have developed novel methods for      sampling snake gut bacterial communities and will be using nextgen sequencing technologies to characterize the bacterial communities and explore questions about co-evolution of the snakes and their gut bacteria.
                           


*Phylogeography and Phylogenetics of the Bothrops moojeni species complex - The spatial and temporal events that give rise to the diverse number of species in the tropics is of great interest to researchers. I will be making collections and using museum specimens to thoroughly sample this species complex throughout its range. I will use nextgen sequencing to look for cryptic lineages and patterns of gene flow. These data will be coupled with traditional morphometric analyses to provide a multidisciplinary framework to both describe species and understand patterns of diversification in the Brazilian Cerrado.


Phylogeography in Madagascar, using ants to test hypotheses of diversification - Under the supervision of Dr. Brice Noonan and in collaboration with Dr. Brian Fisher I am investigation the processes that drive diversification patterns on a model continent (Madagascar). We have very thorough sampling of ant species throughout Madagascar and will be using nexgen sequencing, ecological niche modeling, and statistical phylogeographic methods to explore patterns of diversification within Malagasy ants and develop general biogeographic hypotheses to test with these data. 


*Dissertation projects

 

Research Interests

Although I am interested in all areas of herpetology, my main research interests are in evolution, ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. At heart I’m truely a snake guy, and have a keen interest in the evolution and ecology of venomous reptiles. I am particularly interested in phylogeny and the use of phylogenies to answer questions about ecology and evolution. I try to incorporate multi-disciplinary approaches using phylogeny and GIS-based methods to answer macro-evolutionary questions.



in situ:


 

Current projects

Tim Colston

            Research    Publications    Photos    Links    Noonan Lab                               

Ceará, Brazil, 2011

McCurtain Co. OK, 2010

Tobasco, Mexico

2010

Eleven Points River, AR 2010

Colima, Mexico

2008

A few of the field sites I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time in over the last few years. Visit my Fieldwork page for pictures!

**Biogeography and Phylogeography of Corallus - I investigated the spatial and temporal components that have shaped South American reptile diversity using a widely-distribued species, Corallus hortulanus, to test several biogeographic hypotheses. In addition I conducted a molecular review of the genus Corallus with a multi-locus data set using both ML and Bayesian methods. I sequenced individuals of C. hortulanus from over 40 localities for 2 mitochondrial genes (cyt-b, ND2) and 1 nuclear gene (rag-1). This species is wide-ranging, from central Venezuela south to Peru, and across Amazonia east through the Cerrado to Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest; and I infered general patterns about South American reptile diversification from my data. **Thesis project

Publications will be available on this site once accepted.



Survey and Ecological Studies of the CaveMolly (P. mexicana) along the Gulf Coastof Mexico and it Toxic Cave morphotypeSouthern Mexico - In January of 2009 and again in January of 2010 I assisted Dr. Ingo Schlupp and members of his lab in conducting surveys and experiments of fish in the genus Poecilia along Mexico's gulf coast and the Southern states of Tabasco and Chiapas. Most of our research was focused on a morphotype that occurs in both hydrogen-sulfide rich, toxic waters and a single cave in Tabasco. This cave has also been featured in multiple documentaries on the BBC, Dicovery, and Planet Earth. It is the only cave known to science that fish occur in both toxic and cave habitats and the selection pressures are unique to this system.

   Riesch, R., Colston, T. C., Joachim, B. L., Schlupp, I., 2011 Natural history and life history of the Grijalva gambusia Heterophallus milleri Radda, 1987 (Teleostei: Poeciliidae). Aqua, 17(2): 95-102


Herpetological Survey of Oklahoma Wildlife Management Areas - From 2006-2009 I assisted Dr. Laurie Vitt, Dr. Janalee Caldwell and the other graduate students in the herpetology lab at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History with intense herpetological surveys of the Wildlife Management Areas in Oklahoma. Since Oklahoma lies in the dividing zone between East/West species in the United States we have a diverse array flora and fauna. The data generated from these surveys will provide detailed species lists, relative abundance and ecological data that will be used in future conservation efforts.



Survey and Inventory of the Small Mammals in the State of Colima, Mexico - From December 28, 2007-January 15, 2008 I assisted Dr. Gary Schnell of the Sam Noble Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Dr. Mike Kennedy of the University of Memphis, and Dr. Troy Best of Auburn University with their ongoing survey of small mammals in Colima, Mexico. On this expedition our basecamp was located at the foot of the Fire Volcano at the Jalisco/Colima border. We took species abundance and activity data as well as species distribution data.


Past projects