Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences

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Thomas DeWitt

Thomas DeWitt
Title Assistant Professor
Expertise ecological quantitative genetics; functional ecology; phenotypic plasticity; natural selection;
conservation biology; environmental stochasticity; biomathematical models; development; freshwater ecology
Education Ph.D. Binghamton University (SUNY), 1995
M.A. Boston University, 1991
B.Sc. Grand Valley State University, 1987
Office Phone (979) 458-1684
Office Fax (979) 845-3786
Email tdewitt@tamu.edu
Office 100 Greenhouse
Web Sitehttp://wfsc.tamu.edu/faculty/tdewitt/webpage.htm

Current Research

I study ecological mechanisms that drive evolutionary diversification. These studies typically involve aquatic organisms but I also work on fungi, drosophila and theoretical modeling. Surprisingly, there exists little adequately detailed or integrative work on divergent natural selection, which I consider to be the most important topic in evolutionary and conservation biology. I am particularly interested in identifying evolutionary paradigms of broad signficance, such that the focal agent of selection would result in replicated evolution within taxa, among taxa, and among developmental regimes. I try to be integrative, including aspects of ecology, quantitative (trait) and molecular (locus) genetics, physiology, development and biomechanics. Its like Darwin said... there is grandeur in this view of life.

Recent Publications

  • Tobler M, DeWitt TJ, Schlupp I, García de León FJ, Herrmann R, Feulner PGD, Tiedemann R, Plath M (2008) Toxic hydrogen sulfid and dark caves: Phenotypic and genetic divergence across two abiotic environmental gradients in Poecilia mexicana. Evolution 62:2643-2658.

  • Johnson JB, Burt DB, DeWitt TJ (2008) Form, function, fitness—pathways to survival. Evolution 62:1243-1251.

  • McEachran JD, DeWitt TJ (2008) A new livebearing fish, Heterandria tuxtlaensis, from Lake Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae). Zootaxa 1824:45-54.

  • Ruehl CB, DeWitt TJ (2007) Trophic plastcity and foraging performance in red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus (Linnaeus). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology & Ecology 349 284–294.

  • Langerhans RB, Chapman LJ, DeWitt TJ (2007) Multiple phenotypes, multiple environmental gradients: complex phenotype-environment associations in an East African cyprinid. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20: 1171–1181.

  • Chapman LJ, DeWitt TJ, Tzaneva V, Paterson J (2007) Interdemic variation in gill morphology of a eurytopic African cichlid. Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium: Fish Physiology, Toxicology, and Water Quality. EPA publication 600R07010: 209-225.