Faculty Profiles

Michael J. Angilletta Jr.

Associate Professor

Ph.D., The University of Pennsylvania

Phone: 812-237-4520
E-mail: mangilletta@isugw.indstate.edu
Office: Science Building 273

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Research Interests: energetics of ectotherms; evolution of life histories; thermoregulation and physiological performance.

More than 99% of all organisms are ectothermic, and consequently their rates of growth and development are profoundly influenced by temperature. I seek to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes by which temperature affects the physiological performance and life histories of these organisms. Such an understanding is critical because global climate change has and will continue to pose thermal challenges to ectotherms. Although great effort has been expended to understand the ecological consequences of global climate change, the evolutionary consequences remain less clear. Yet, evolutionary responses will determine the ecological interactions among organisms in future ecosystems. The development of a theory of thermal adaptation could offer major advantages to both basic and applied biologists.

Currently, my lab is focused on several questions:

The eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, is the focus of ecological and evolutionary research.

To answer these questions, my collaborators and I are engaged in mathematical modeling, experimental studies of physiology, radio-telemetric studies of thermoregulation, spatial analyses of thermal heterogeneity, and phylogenetic comparative analyses of life histories.

Much of this work is focused on lizards of the genus Sceloporus. These lizards are distributed widely throughout the United States, and their morphology, physiology and life history vary considerably within species. We have used comparative and experimental approaches to understand how environmental temperature causes variation in the life history (e.g., growth rate, age and size at maturity, offspring size and number). Current work incorporates molecular information on evolutionary relationships among populations to infer the patterns of life-history evolution within Sceloporus undulatus. A phylogenetic approach to intraspecific studies of life-history variation has enabled us to identify convergent evolution along latitudinal gradients. Lizards from cold, northern environments grow and develop faster as embryos, attain larger adult sizes, and produce larger eggs than do lizards in warm, southern environments. We aim to develop a theory that describes the cause of this convergent evolution.

Selected Publications

Wilson, R. S., M. J. Angilletta, R. S. James, C. A. Navas, and F. Seebacher. 2007. Dishonest signals of strength in male slender crayfish (Cherax dispar) during agonistic encounters. The American Naturalist 170: 284-291.

Angilletta, M. J., R. S. Wilson, A. C. Niehaus, M. W. Sears, C. A. Navas, and P. L. Ribeiro. 2007. Urban physiology: city ants possess high heat tolerance. PLoS ONE 2: e258.

Angilletta, M. J., C. E. Oufiero, and A. D. Leaché. 2006. Direct and indirect effects of environmental temperature on the evolution of reproductive strategies: an information-theoretic approach. The American Naturalist 168: E123-E135.

Oufiero, C. E. and M. J. Angilletta. 2006. Convergent evolution of embryonic growth and development in the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). Evolution 60: 1066-1075.

Angilletta, M. J., A. F. Bennett, H. Guderley, C. A. Navas, F. Seebacher, and R. S. Wilson. 2006. Coadaptation: a unifying principle in evolutionary thermal biology. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 79: 282-294.

McLean, M. A., M. J. Angilletta, and K. Williams. 2005. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the city: thermal reactions norms of chitinolytic fungi in an urban heat island. Journal of Thermal Biology 30: 384-391.

Angilletta, M. J., P. H. Niewiarowski, A. E. Dunham, A. D. Leaché, and W. P. Porter. 2004. Bergmann's clines in ectotherms: illustrating a life-history perspective in sceloporine lizards. The American Naturalist 164: E168-E183.

Angilletta, M. J., T. D. Steury, and M. W. Sears. 2004. Temperature, growth rate, and body size in ectotherms: fitting pieces of a life-history puzzle. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44: 498-509.

Angilletta, M. J. and A. E. Dunham. 2003. The temperature-size rule in ectotherms: simple evolutionary explanations may not be general. The American Naturalist 162: 332-342.

Angilletta, M. J., R. S. Wilson, C. A. Navas, and R. S. James. 2003. Tradeoffs and the evolution of thermal reaction norms. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18: 234-240.

Angilletta, M. J., P. H. Niewiarowski, and C. A. Navas. 2002. The evolution of thermal physiology in ectotherms. Journal of Thermal Biology 27: 249-268.