Stephen Pruett-Jones, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Ecology & Evolution Committee on Evolutionary Biology Office: Zoology 409A | Phone: (773) 702-3115/3070 | Fax: (773) 702-9740 | email:pruett-jones(at)uchicago(dot)edu Subjects: Behavioral ecology, sexual selection, mate choice, communication, population biology, phylogeography

Research Interests

My research concerns the natural selection of social behavior. Emphasizing quantitative and experimental approaches in the study of natural populations, I am interested in sexual selection, the economy and evolution of mating systems, spatial dispersion, and communication.

I am currently conducting a field and laboratory investigation of sexual selection in a group of passerine birds in Australia, the fairy-wrens. Fairy-wrens live in socially-monogamous groups, but most individuals mate promiscuously with individuals from other groups. Using a combination of field observations, direct manipulation of group size and composition, and DNA fingerprinting analysis of parentage, I am studying both the evolutionary causes and consequences of reproductive promiscuity in five species in this group. In a new study, I am studying taxonomy and phylogenetics in fairy-wrens, testing hypotheses for the evolution of sexual dimorphism in this group.

In addition to field work on birds in Australia, I am involved in theoretical studies of social behavior and decision making in animals, and a local study of population biology and behavior of Monk Parakeets. The underlying themes in these studies are the questions of how interactions among individuals and the mating decisions that individuals make affect the process of sexual selection and the evolution of alternative reproductive tactics.

Projects that my graduate students are currently involved in include: 1) geographical variation and the evolution of toxicity in the genus Pitohui; 2) sexual selection and mating systems in birds; and 3) the evolution of sexual cannibalism.

Selected Publications

Driskell, A. C., S. Pruett-Jones, K. A. Tarvin, and S. Hagevik. 2002. Evolutionary relationships among blue- and black-plumaged populations of the white-winged fairy-wren (Malurus leucopterus). Australian Journal of Zoology 50:581-595.

Avery, M. L., E. C. Greiner, J. R. Lindsay, J. R. Newman, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2002. Monk parakeet management at electric utility facilities in south Florida. Pages 140-145 in R. M. Timm and R. H. Schmidt (Eds.) Proceedings 20th Vertebrate Pest Conference, University of California Davis.

Pruett-Jones, S. 2004. Summary. Pages 228-238 in W. D. Koenig and P. Stacey (Eds.) Cooperative Breeding. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Tuttle, E. M., and S. Pruett-Jones. 2004. Estimates of extreme sperm production: morphological and experimental evidence from reproductively promiscuous fairy-wrens (Malurus). Animal Behaviour 68:541-550.

Webster, M. S., K. A. Tarvin, E. M. Tuttle, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2004. Reproductive promiscuity in the splendid fairy-wren: Effects of group size and auxiliary reproduction. Behavioral Ecology 6:907-915.

Pruett-Jones, S., and E. O'Donnell. 2004. Land birds of Barrow Island: status, population estimates, and responses to an oil-field development. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 87:101-108.

Pruett-Jones, S., J. R. Newman, C. M. Newman, and J. R. Lindsay. 2005. Population growth of monk parakeets in Florida. Florida Field Naturalist 33:1-14.

Tarvin, K. A., M. S. Webster, E. M. Tuttle, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2005. Genetic similarity of social mates predicts the level of extrapair paternity in splendid fairy-wrens. Animal Behaviour 70:945-955.

Rowe, M., and S. Pruett-Jones. 2006. Reproductive biology and sperm competition in Australian fairy-wrens. Avian and Poultry Biology Reviews 17:21-37.

Avery, M. L., J. R. Lindsay, J. R. Newman, S. Pruett-Jones, and E. A. Tillman. 2006. Reducing monk parakeet impacts to electric utility facilities in south Florida. Pages 125-136 in C. J. Feare and D. P. Cowan (Eds.), Advances in Vertebrate Pest Management Vol IV. Filander Verlag, Furth. Federal Republic of Germany.

Pruett-Jones, S., J. R. Newman, C. M. Newman, M. L. Avery, and J. R. Lindsay. 2007. Population viability analysis of monk parakeets in the United States and examination of alternative management strategies. Human-Wildlife Conflicts 1:35-44.

Kay, E. H., E. Lonsdorf, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2007. Null models for population variation in morph frequencies in polymorphic damselflies. Animal Behaviour 74:e1-e8.

Webster, M. S., K. A. Tarvin, E. M. Tuttle, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2007. Promiscuity drives sexual selection in a monogamous bird. Evolution 61:2205-2211. This article is associated with the cover illustration for that issue of Evolution.

Coyne, J. A., E. H. Kay, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2008. The genetic basis of sexual dimorphisms in birds. Evolution 62:214-219. This article is associated with the cover illustration for that issue of Evolution.

Rowe, M., and S. Pruett-Jones. 2008. Reproductive anatomy of male southern emu-wrens (Stipiturus malachurus) and striated grasswrens (Amytornis striatus). Emu 108:68-73.

Green, N., B. A. Hazlett, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2008. Attachment and shell integrity affects the vulnerability of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) to predation. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 23:91-99.

Greig, E., and S. Pruett-Jones. 2008. Splendid songs: the vocal repertoire of splendid fairy-wrens. Emu 108:103-114. This article is associated with the cover illustration for that issue of Emu.

Rowe, M., M. R. Bakst, and S. Pruett-Jones. 2008. Good vibrations? Structure and function of the cloacal tip of male Australian Maluridae. Journal of Avian Biology 39:348-354.