Assistant Professor and Curator of Vertebrates
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and University of Colorado Museum
University of Colorado, Boulder
Contact Info:
Jason Knouft, Curator of Vertebrates
Zoology Section
CU Museum of Natural History
UCB 265
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0265
Email: knouft@colorado.edu
Phone: (303) 492-1956
Research Interests:
Island Biogeography, Biodiversity Informatics, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Evolution of Innate Immunity in Vertebrates
Education:
1994 B.S. Biology Drexel University
1996 M.S. Biology Drexel University
2001 Ph.D. Biology University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Positions and Appointments:
2001 - 2002 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame,
Advisor: Dr. Gary Lamberti
2002 - 2004 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Losos
2002 - 2005 Visiting Scholar, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
2003 Visiting Scholar, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California at Berkeley
2004 - Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder
2004 - Curator of Vertebrates, University of Colorado Museum
Current Research Projects:
1) Application of GIS data and biodiversity informatic techniques to examine the relationship between habitat heterogeneity
and species diversity on Caribbean islands.
2) Examination of large-scale ecological and evolutionary patterns in Anolis lizards and North American freshwater fishes
using a combination of museum and field collected data.
3) The evolution of epidermal mucus chemical composition and innate immunity in aquatic vertebrates.
4) The application of niche modeling techniques to the examination of niche evolution in Anolis and Phrynosomid lizards.
Current and Recent Funding:
2000 - 01 - Factors influencing evolutionary and ecological patterns of body size in North American freshwater fishes. Doctoral
Dissertation Improvement Grant, National Science Foundation, $5,439.
2002 - 04 - Macroecological patterns in a model taxonomic group: integration of ecological, phylogenetic, and historical data from
Caribbean Anolis lizards. Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biological Informatics, National Science Foundation, $100,000.
2002 - 05 - Role of large woody debris in restoring stream ecosystem function in managed U.S. forests. USDA - NRI, $375,000.
(Co-PI with J. L. Tank (PI) and G. A. Lamberti)
2005 - 06 - Chemical adaptations in fishes during freshwater invasions: an evolutionary perspective. University of Colorado Junior
Faculty Development Award, $5,000.
2005 - 06 - Island-Net (Phase I): a web accessible database for the integration and study of global environmental and taxonomic
data on islands. National Science Foundation (PI), $50,000 (Direct costs).
Publications:
Knouft, J. H., Losos, J. B., Glor, R. E., and Kolbe J. J. In press. Phylogenetic analysis of the evolution of the niche in
lizards in the Anolis sagrei group. Ecology.
Calsbeek, R., Knouft, J. H., and Smith, T. B. In press. Variation in scale numbers is consistent with
ecologically based natural selection acting within and between lizard species. Evolutionary Ecology.
Taylor, C. A. and Knouft, J. H. In press. Historical influences on genital morphology among sympatric crayfishes:
systematics and gonopod evolution in the genus Orconectes (Cambaridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Langerhans, R. B., Knouft, J. H., and Losos, J. B. 2006. Shared and unique features of evolutionary diversification
in Greater Antillean Anolis ecomorphs. Evolution 60:362-369. (pdf)
Knouft, J. H. 2004. Latitudinal variation in the shape of the species body size distribution: an analysis using freshwater
fishes. Oecologia 139:408-417. (pdf)
Knouft, J. H. and Page, L. M. 2004. Nest defense against predators by the male Fringed Darter (Etheostoma crossopterum).
Copeia 2004:915-918. (pdf)
Knouft, J. H. and Page, L. M. 2003. The evolution of body size in extant groups of North American freshwater fishes:
speciation, size distributions, and Cope’s rule. American Naturalist 161(3):413-421. (pdf)
Knouft, J. H. 2003. Convergence, divergence, and the effect of congeners on body size ratios in stream fishes. Evolution
57(10):2374-2382. (pdf)
Knouft, J. H., Page, L. M., and Plewa, M. J. 2003. Antimicrobial egg cleaning by the fringed darter (Perciformes: Percidae:
Etheostoma crossopterum): implications of a novel component of parental care in fishes. Proceedings of the Royal
Society of London: Biological Sciences 270(1531):2405-2411. (pdf)
Knouft, J. H. 2002. Regional analysis of body size and population density in stream fish assemblages: testing predictions of the
energetic equivalence rule. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59(8):1350-1360. (pdf)
Knouft, J. H. and Spotila, J. R. 2002. Assessment of movements of resident stream brown trout (Salmo trutta) among
contiguous sections of stream. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 11:85-92. (pdf)
Hardman, M., Page, L. M., Sabaj, M. H., Armbruster, J. W., and Knouft, J. H. 2002. On the freshwater fishes of Guyana.
Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwater 13(3):225-238. (See coverage in National Geographic)
Taylor, C. A., Knouft, J. H., and Hiland, T. 2001. Consequences of stream impoundment on fish communities in a small
North American drainage. Regulated Rivers: Research and Management 17(6):687-698. (pdf)
Page, L. M. and Knouft, J. H. 2000. Variation in egg-mimic size in Etheostoma oophylax, the guardian darter (Percidae:
Catonotus). Copeia 2000:782-785. (pdf)
Armbruster, J. W., Sabaj, M. H., Hardman, M., Page, L. M., and Knouft, J. H. 2000. The catfish genus Corymbophanes
(Loricariidae: Hypostominae) with description of one new species: Corymbophanes kaiei. Copeia 2000:997-1006. (pdf)