Rosemary Knapp
Associate Professor, Zoology Richards Hall 108 405-325-4389 rknapp at ou dot edu http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/K/Rosemary.Knapp-1/ Ph.D., Zoology - Arizona State University, 1996Research:
I am interested in understanding the physiological, ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to behavioral variation, with an ultimate aim of increasing our understanding of how behavior evolves. My research combines the approaches of behavioral endocrinology, neuroendocrinology and physiological ecology to study the bases of behavior by studying animals both in the field and in the laboratory. Most recently I have been studying several species of fish. My research has been centered on questions related to the physiological bases of variation in aggressive and reproductive behavior, with two main foci: 1) variation in androgen-glucocorticoid interactions in the context of alternative male reproductive tactics and 2) endocrinology of male parental behavior. To date, I have focused on steroid hormones because of their important role as chemical messengers that mediate behavioral, physiological and developmental processes. I have concentrated on interactions between the stress and reproductive endocrine axes because these axes mediate some of the major costs and benefits associated with male reproductive behavior.
Selected Publications:
Knapp, R. & Neff, B. D. (2007) Steroid hormones in bluegill, a species with male alternative reproductive tactics including female mimicry. Biol. Lett., 3: 628-631.
Leary, C. J., Garcia, A. M., & Knapp, R. (2006) Female toads and sexual parasites choose males with low levels of stress hormone: dynamic tradeoffs and potential constraints on sexually selected traits. Am. Nat., 168: 431-440.
Magee, S. E., Neff, B. D., & Knapp, R. (2006) Plasma levels of androgens and cortisol in relation to breeding behavior in parental male bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus. Horm. & Beh. 49: 598-609.
Knapp, R. (2004) Endocrine mediation of vertebrate alternative male reproductive phenotypes: the next generation of studies. Int. & Comp. Biol., 43: 658-668.
Knapp, R., Hews, D. K., Thompson, C. W., Ray, L. E., & Moore, M. C. (2003) Environmental and endocrine correlates of tactic switching by nonterritorial male tree lizards (Urosaurus ornatus). Horm. & Beh., 43: 83-92.
Knapp, R., Wingfield, J. C., & Bass, A. H. (1999) Steroid hormones and paternal care in the plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus). Horm. & Beh., 35: 81-89.