Dr Natasha LeBas

 

Contact  Current projects  Funding Received  Collaborators  Publications

 

I am an evolutionary biologist interested in sexual selection.  My current research interests are the evolution and maintenance of female ornamentation and the interaction between sexual selection and inbreeding in small populations. I primarily utilize an agamid lizard study system, in which the many, highly isolated populations provide the ideal structure in which to address these questions. My research also addresses the conservation genetics of this potentially vulnerable species. Other recent research interests include the evolution of genetic and environmental polymorphisms in lizards and mites; selection on developmental integration; nuptial gift giving and colour trait signalling.  I also utilize molecular techniques, such as microsatellites, to investigate lizard mating systems in the natural environment.

 

 

 

Contact:

Dr Natasha LeBas

ARC Research Fellow

School of Animal Biology (M092)

University of Western Australia

Crawley  WA  6009

Australia

ph: ++ 61 (08) 6488 4510

fax: ++ 61 (08) 6488 1029

 

 

 

Current projects:

 

·            Sexual selection on female phenotypes

·            The role of inbreeding in small populations

·            Quantifying fitness functions in the male dimorphic mite

·            Developmental integration

 

Funding Received:

 

2005  ARC Discovery Grant (with Dr Tomkins)

2005  UWA Small Grant.

2003  Australian Research Council Fellowship.

2003  Royal Society of London Equipment Grant.

2002  Leverhulme Research Grant (declined)

2002  NERC Research Fellowship.

2002  NERC Research Grant (with Prof Thorpe & Prof Ritchie).

2002  NERC Research Grant (with Dr Tomkins).

 

External Collaborators:

 

Mike Ritchie, University of St Andrews, UK.

Janne Kotiaho, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Mats Olsson, University of Wollongong, Australia.

 

 

Publications:

 

These publications can be downloaded

 

Kotiaho, J. S., LeBas, N. R., Puurtinen, M. and Tomkins, J. L. (2008) On the resolution of the lek paradox. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 23, 1-3.

 

Olsson, M., Healey, M., Wapstra, E. , Schwartz, T., LeBas, N. R and Uller, T. (2007). Mating system variation and morph fluctuations in a polymorphic lizard. Molecular Ecology. 16, 5307 - 5315

 

Kotiaho, J. S., LeBas, N. R., Puurtinen, M. and Tomkins, J. L. (2007) On female choice, heterozygosity and the lek paradox. Animal Behaviour. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.08.011

 

LeBas, N.R. (2006) Female finery is not for males. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.  21, 170-173.

 

Tomkins, J.L. Kotiaho, J.S. and LeBas N.R. (2006) Major differences in minor allometries. American Naturalist. 167, 612-618.

 

LeBas, N.R. and Hockham, L.R. (2005) An invasion of cheats: the evolution of worthless nuptial gifts. Current Biology 15, 64-67.

 

 

Tomkins, J.L. Kotiaho, J. and LeBas, N.R. (2005) Phenotypic plasticity in the developmental integration of morphological trade-offs and secondary sexual trait compensation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, series B 272, 543-551.

 

 

Tomkins, J.L. Kotiaho, J. and LeBas, N.R. (2005) Matters of scale: positive allometry and the evolution of male dimorphisms. American Naturalist 165, 389-402.

 

 

LeBas N.R. Hockham, L.R. and Ritchie, M.G (2004) Sexual selection in the gift-giving dance fly, Rhamphomyia sulcata favours small males carrying small gifts. Evolution. 58, 1763-1772.

 

 

Tomkins, J.L. LeBas, N.R. Unrug, J. and Radwan, J. (2004) Testing the status-dependent ESS: population variation in fighter expression in the mite Sancassania berlesei. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17, 1377-1388.

 

 

LeBas N.R, Hockham, L. and Ritchie, M.G. (2003). Non-linear and correlational sexual selection on 'honest' female ornamentation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, series B 270, 2159-2165.

 

 

LeBas N.R. (2002) Mate choice, genetic incompatibility and outbreeding in the ornate dragon lizard, Ctenophorus ornatus. Evolution 56, 371-377.

 

 

LeBas N.R. (2001) Microsatellite determination of male reproductive success in a natural population of the territorial ornate dragon lizard, Ctenophorus ornatus. Molecular Ecology 10, 193-203.

 

 

LeBas N.R. and Marshall N.J. (2001) No evidence of female choice for a condition-dependent male trait in the ornate dragon lizard, Ctenophorus ornatus. Behaviour 138, 965-980.

 

 

LeBas N.R. and Marshall N.J. (2000) The role of colour in signalling and male choice in the agamid lizard, Ctenophorus ornatus. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: series B 267, 445-452.

 

 

LeBas N.R. and Spencer P.B.S. (2000) Polymorphic microsatellite markers in the ornate dragon lizard, Ctenophorus ornatus. Molecular Ecology 9, 365-366.