David Cannatella

Professor, Section of Integrative Biology,
Curator of Herpetology, Texas Natural History Collections
see also the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Lab Web Page Education | Research Interests | Courses Taught Recently | Awards | Publications

E-mail:
catfish@mail.utexas.edu
Office:
PAT 121A,
(512) 232-4862
Lab:

PAT 120
(512) 471-5302

Fax:
(512) 471-3878

TNHC
(512) 471-9776 or 4302
fax: (512) 471-9775

 

Education

  • B.S., Zoology, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1976, magna cum laude.
  • M.A., Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas, 1979.
  • M.Ph., Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas, 1981.
  • Ph.D., with honors, Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas, 1985.

Research Interests

Dr. Cannatella and students in his lab study the evolution of amphibians.  Some areas of interest are the higher-level phylogeny of amphibians, biodiversity of Neotropical frogs, signal evolution in frog mating calls, behavioral ecology of poison frogs, and relationship of bioinformatics and systematics. For more information, see the Cannatella Lab page. 

Dr. Cannatella is also Curator of the Herpetology Collection in the Texas Natural History Collections, part of the Texas Natural Science Center

 

Courses Taught Recently

  • Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (BIO 478L)
  • Advanced Systematics (BIO 384K)
  • Phylogeography (BIO 384K)
  • Religion and Science: Intelligent Design and Evolution (Plan II Honors Seminar; TC 357)

Awards/Honors

  • American Museum of Natural History Curatorial Fellowship in Herpetology, 1987 (five-year position, declined)
  • American Museum of Natural History Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1986 (declined)
  • Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1986 (declined)
  • Ernst Mayr Award, Society for Systematic Zoology, 1985
  • Dissertation Fellowship, KU Graduate School, 1984-1985
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1977-1981

Publications

Garda, A. A., and D. C. Cannatella.  In Press.  Phylogeny and biogeography of paradoxical frogs (Anura, Hylidae, Pseudae) inferred from 12S and 16S mitochondrial DNA.  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

Funk, W. C., J. P. Caldwell, C. E. Peden, J. M. Padial, I. de la Riva, D. C. Cannatella.  In Press.  Tests of biogeographic hypotheses for diversification in the Amazonian forest frog, Physalaemus petersi.  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

Cannatella, D. C.  2007.  An integrative phylogeny of Amphibia.  Pages 12-43 In: Hearing and Sound Communication in Amphibians. Narins, P., and Popper, A. (eds.) Springer-Verlag.

Boul, K. E., W. C. Funk, C. R. Darst, D. C. Cannatella, and M. J. Ryan.  2007.  Sexual selection drives speciation in an Amazonian frog.  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274(1608):399-406.

Bossuyt, F., R. M. Brown, D. M. Hillis, D. C. Cannatella, and M. C. Milinkovitch.  2006.  Phylogeny and biogeography of a cosmopolitan frog radiation: Late Cretaceous diversification resulted in continent-scale endemism in the family Ranidae.  Systematic Biology 55(4): 579-594.

Darst, C. R., M. E. Cummings, and D. C. Cannatella.  2006.  A mechanism for diversity in warning signals: conspicuousness versus toxicity in poison frogs.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(15):5852–5857.

Ron, S. R., J. C. Santos, and D. C. Cannatella.  2006.  Phylogeny of the túngara frog genus Engystomops (= Physalaemus pustulosus species group; Anura: Leptodactylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39:392–403.

Holloway, A. K, Cannatella, D. C., Gerhardt, H. C., and D. M. Hillis.  2006. Polyploids with different origins and ancestors form a single sexual polyploid species.  American Naturalist 167(4):E88–E101.

Ron, S., L. A. Coloma, and D. C. Cannatella.  2005.  A new cryptic species of Physalaemus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from western Ecuador, with comments on the call structure of the Physalaemus pustulosus species group.  Herpetologica 61(2):178-198.

Evans, B. J., D. B. Kelley, D. J. Melnick, and D. C. Cannatella.  2005.  Evolution of RAG-1 in polyploid clawed frogs.  Molecular Biology and Evolution 22(5):1193–1207.

Darst, C. A., P. A. Menéndez-Guerrero, L. A. Coloma, and D. C. Cannatella.  2005.  Evolution of diet specialization and chemical defense in poison frogs (Dendrobatidae): a comparative analysis.  American Naturalist 165:56–69.