Teaching Interests
BSC 361/L Comparative Anatomy
BSC 407/L/507/L Biology of Vertebrates
BSC 417/L/517/L Herpetology
BSC 494/594 Experimental Design and Data
Analysis in Biology
Research Interests
My primary interest is in herpetology,
including many aspects of the ecology, evolution, and
conservation of reptiles and amphibians. Past, present,
and anticipated future research projects in my lab cover
many diverse aspects of the biology of these ectothermic
vertebrates. Areas of particular interest to me include
reproductive biology and life history evolution;
thermoregulation and thermal biology; phenotypic
plasticity and embryonic development; behavioral
ecology; ecological impacts of invasive species; and the
application of research on these topics to the
conservation of native amphibians and reptiles. I find
that the most interesting and rewarding studies usually
span multiple areas of inquiry, synthesizing various
aspects of an organism's biology. My research background
reflects this diversity of interests, and
multidisciplinary approach, including studies of the
following: life history evolution and the evolution of
viviparity in Australian and North American lizards;
phenotypic plasticity and the influence of incubation
temperature on reptile eggs and neonates; and the
ecology and management of the invasive Brown Treesnake (Boiga
irregularis) on the tropical Pacific island of Guam.
My graduate students and I are
currently pursuing the following research projects:
Egg Hatching Success and Recruitment
of Threatened Gopher Tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus,
in South Mississippi. One of the largest remaining
populations of this federally and state protected
tortoise appears to be suffering from a lack of
recruitment and declining in number. The low rate of
recruitment is largely due to an extremely low hatching
success rate for eggs laid by these tortoises. A large
majority of the eggs produced in this population fail to
hatch successfully, even when their nests are protected
from predation. This study is examining the hatching
success of tortoise eggs, under different conditions in
the laboratory and in natural nests, to determine what
factors are responsible for eggs failing to hatch.
Inventory of the Reptiles and
Amphibians of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The
Gulf Islands National Seashore is a national park that
encompasses barrier island and mainland coastal
habitats, along the Gulf Coast, from Mississippi to
Florida. The habitats protected in this park are of
great conservation value, because so much coastal
habitat has been lost to coastal development and
erosion. This project consists of extensive field
surveys to determine what species of reptile and
amphibian are present in each of the 10 park units,
which habitats each is associated with, and the
estimated abundance of each species. The information
gathered will allow the National Park Service to better
conserve the native species present in the park,
including several rare and protected species of reptile
and amphibian.
Representative Publications
Qualls, C. P. & R. M. Andrews. 1999.
Cold climates and the evolution of viviparity in
reptiles: cold incubation temperatures produce
poor-quality offspring in the lizard, Sceloporus
virgatus. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
67:353-376.
Qualls, C. P. & R. M. Andrews. 1999.
Maternal body volume constrains water uptake by lizard
eggs in utero. Functional Ecology 13:845-851.
Qualls, C. P. & R. Shine. 1998.
Lerista bougainvillii, a case study for the
evolution of viviparity in reptiles. Journal of
Evolutionary Biology 11:63-78.
Qualls, C. P. & R. Shine. 1996.
Reconstructing ancestral reaction norms: an example
using the evolution of reptilian viviparity. Functional
Ecology 10:688-697. |
