Trevor Price, Ph.D. Professor Department of Ecology & Evolution Committee on Evolutionary Biology Committee on Genetics, Genomics & Systems Biology Biological Sciences Collegiate Division Office: Zoology 309A | Phone: (773) 702-5176 | Fax: (773) 702-9740 | email:pricet(at)uchicago(dot)edu Subjects: Phylogenetics and Community ecology, Sexual selection and Speciation, Quantitative Genetics, Conservation of Himalayan birds, Bird Speciation Personal Web Page

Research Interests

We study the causes and consequences of speciation in birds. We combine field research, mostly in India, with molecular lab work (e.g., phylogeny reconstruction) and some theoretical studies. Major questions include: What is the role of songs and plumage patterns in speciation? Why are there twice as many species breeding in the eastern Himalayas as the western Himalayas? What sets range limits of species? How do closely related parapatric species interact at their mutual range limit? Much of our ongoing research is on the genus Phylloscopus, or Old World Leaf Warblers, chosen because multiple coexisting species are extremely similar to each other. By studying the differences in ecology, song, plumages and displays, both within single communities and across regions, we can begin to understand the contribution of these traits to speciation. We are now extending this approach to other groups, and my personal research is on comparing the ecology of all passerines across the Himalayas, combining field studies of their abundance in communities and across elevational gradients with phylogenetic reconstructions.

I am currently most interested in supervising students who wish to undertake field studies on birds. They can develop projects within these systems, or independently.

Recent Publications

Johansson, U. S., P. Alström, U. Olsson, P. Ericson, P. Lundberg and T. D. Price. (2007) Build-up of the Himalayan avifauna through immigration: a biogeographical analysis of the Phylloscopus and Seicercus warblers. Evolution 61: 324-333.

Phillimore, A. B. and T. Price. (2008) Density-dependent cladogenesis in birds. Plos Biology e71.

Price, T. (2008) Speciation in birds. Roberts and Co. Boulder, CO

Price, T. D., P. J. Yeh, and B. Harr. (2008) Phenotypic plasticity and the evolution of a socially selected trait following colonization of a novel environment. American Naturalist 172:S49-S62.