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Joseph B. Slowinski, Ph.D.

Associate Curator
Department of Herpetology
California Academy of Sciences
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118-4599
Tel: 415-750-7041; Fax: 415-750-7013
E-mail: jslowinski@calacademy.org

 

Joe Slowinski

EDUCATION

  • B.S., University of Kansas, 1984

  • Ph.D., University of Miami, 1991.

PRINCIPAL AREAS OF INTEREST

  • herpetology, especially venomous snakes

  • molecular evolution

  • phylogenetic analysis

BOOKS WRITTEN

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B. 1998. Introduction to Genetics. NTC, Lincolnwood, IL.

RECENT PAPERS

  • ARBOGAST, B. S., AND J. B. SLOWINSKI.  1998.  Pleistocene speciation and the  mitochondrial DNA clock.  Science 282:1955a.

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B., AND B. S. ARBOGAST.  1999.  Is the rate of molecular evolution  inversely related to body size?  Syst. Biol. 48:396-399.

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B., AND R. D. M. PAGE.  2000. How should species phylogenies be  inferred from sequence data?  Syst. Biol. 48:814-825.

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B., AND W. WÜSTER.  2000. A new cobra (Elapidae: Naja) from  Myanmar. Herpetologica 56:257-270.

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B., AND J. S. KEOGH.  2000. Phylogenetic relationships of elapid snakes based on cytochrome b mtDNA sequences. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 15:157-164.

  • BURBRINK, F. T., R. LAWSON, AND J. B. SLOWINSKI. 2000. MtDNA phylogeography of the North American rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta): a critique of the subspecies concept. Evolution 54:2107-2118.

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B., J. BOUNDY, AND R. LAWSON. 2001. The phylogenetic relationships of Asian coral snakes (Elapidae: Calliophis and Maticora) based on morphological and molecular characters. Herpetologica 57:233-245.

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B.  2001.  Review of In Search of Deep Time: Beyond the Fossil Record to a New History of Life, by Henry Gee. Journal of the History of Science Society [in press].

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B.  Molecular polytomies. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 19:114-120.

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B., AND R. LAWSON.  Elapid phylogeny [in press].

  • SLOWINSKI, J. B., AND R. LAWSON.  Nuclear and mitochondrial evidence that advanced snakes (macrostomatans) are not monophyletic [submitted].

  • LAWSON, R. AND J. B. SLOWINSKI.  The phylogenetic relationships of colubroid snakes based on the cytochrome b and c-mos genes [in prep.].

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

  • Editor-in-Chief and co-founder, Contemporary Herpetology, 1997-present;

  • Member of Editorial Board, Systematic Biology, 1993-1996, 1998-present.

CURRENT RESEARCH

Several projects currently occupy my time. First, Dr. Robin Lawson, Director of the Academy's Osher Laboratory, and I are collaborating on several studies of the molecular phylogenetics of snakes. We are incorporating both mitochondrial and nuclear genes in these studies.

Second, I am conducting a comprehensive survey of the herpetofauna of Myanmar (Burma). The herpetofauna of Myanmar is largely unknown owing to the fact that faunal survey work has not been conducted there in over 50 years. This is a cooperative project with the Myanmar government and also involves Dr. George Zug of the Smithsonian Institution. The work is being supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB 9971861). This work was described in an article I wrote for the San Francisco Chonicle sunday magazine and was described in a Chronicle article about me.


phase 1 color of vine snake phase 2 color of vine snake phase 3 color of vine snake
Three color phases of the vine snake Ahaetulla prasina


Third, I am part of a large project involving a number of other Academy scientists and several institutions in Yunnan, China, to survey the biodiversity of the western part of the Yunnan Province, specifically a mountain range known as the Gaoligongshan. This very unknown area is part of the eastern Himalayas and is a biodiversity hotspot.

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