Ted Townsend Department of Biology San Diego State University San Diego, CA 92182-4614 Phone: 619-594-3621(lab) 619-594-1081(office) Fax: 619-594-5676 Email: townsend@sciences.sdsu.edu

      I am an evolutionary biologist interested in phylogenetic analysis methods, historical biogeography, and studies of geographic variation in morphology and ecology in a phylogenetic context.  I have a strong related interest in the development of nuclear loci for phylogenetic analyses.  My work centers mainly on reptiles and amphibians.  Some past and current projects include the systematics and biogeography of chameleons at various hierarchical levels, higher-level frog relationships, and (here at SDSU) participation in the NSF-funded Tree of Life project for squamate reptiles (snakes and lizards) as a postdoc in Tod Reeder’s lab.  For this project, I have worked with Scott Kelley and his student Eric Alegre to develop and implement a bioinformatic approach to the discovery of novel nuclear protein-coding loci for phylogenetic analyses of squamates.  We have successfully developed over 25 new genes thus far that appear to be very useful, and our goal is 50 genes total.

      I have recently begun a part-time appointment at the San Diego Natural History Museum with Bradford Hollingsworth to obtain funding for and conduct a bioinventory/multispecies biogeographical analysis of the herpetofauna of southern California, including the Baja Peninsula.  One outcome of this project will be a Museum-sponsored online herpetological atlas of the study area.  And, of course, there should be lots of fieldwork in Baja!  I love fieldwork, and have incorporated it into most of my projects.  Over the course of my graduate school and postdoc careers I have had the good fortune to work in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, South Africa, Madagascar, and Indonesia (Sulawesi). 

      As an adjunct lecturer here at SDSU, I have taught Genetics and Evolution, Biology 352.