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Thomas Duda Jr
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1996-1999
University of Hawaii, 1993-1999
U-M affiliation(s)
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Museum of Zoology
Contact information
University of Michigan
1031 Museums Bldg.
1109 Geddes Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079
Phone: (734) 764-2358
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: tfduda@umich.edu
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Fields of study
Evolutionary biology of molluscs
Academic background
Tom Duda received his BS from Texas A&M University at Galveston in 1988 and his MA from San Francisco State University in 1992. He began his PhD studies at the University of Hawaii in 1993 and ultimately received his PhD from Harvard University in 1999. From 1999-2002 he was a Tupper Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panamá and from 2002-2003 was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Washington. He currently is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an Assistant Curator of Molluscs in the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Since 2004 he has also maintained a formal scholarly affiliation with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute as a Research Associate.
Graduate student
Dan Chang
Duda Lab home page
U-M Museum of Zoology
News
Snail venom study gives insights into biodiversity’s origins
Professor Tom Duda and his former postdoc, Ed Remigio published a study in the February issue of Molecular Ecology on the evolution of venoms of predatory marine snails.
Understanding the role of genetics in the evolution of ecological specialization can provide tremendous insights into the origins of biodiversity and the dynamics of how closely related species adapt to certain ecological niches and appear different from each other (scientists call this adaptive radiation).
However, studying the evolution of genes involved with ecological specialization is difficult because these genes are often not known. Duda and Remigio looked at the evolution of a specialized diet of the predatory marine snail Conus leopardus, a species that preys exclusively on marine acorn worms (hemichordates). The limited diet is associated with a decline in the number and diversity of toxin genes expressed in the venom of this species.
These snails, commonly known as cone snails, use venom to paralyze their prey including fish, other snails and worms. Conus leopardus is the only cone snail known to prey exclusively on acorn worms. To understand how the venom of Conus leopardus has evolved in relation to the origin of its unique diet, the researchers examined the toxin genes that are expressed in the venom of this species. They found that the venom of Conus leopardus is much less complex than venoms of other species. This suggests that dietary shifts and dietary specialization of cone snails is associated with the streamlining of their venoms.
First genetic evidence of hybridization in large-bodied New World primates
There are few well-documented cases of natural hybridization among primates. Natural hybridization has only been reported for small-bodied New World species and even among these, no genotypic evidence has ever been presented to confirm the reports. Evolutionary biologists Liliana Cortes-Ortiz, Tom Duda and colleagues present genetic evidence of hybridization of two large-bodied species of neotropical primates (howler monkeys) that diverged some three million years ago.
Their work will likely aid understanding of how new species form, origins of reproductive isolation among primates, and the role of hybridization in primate evolution. “Hybridization in large-bodied New World primates” was published in Genetics, August 2007.
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