Rebecca Kimball

personal site

Associate Professor
Ph.D. University New Mexico, 1995

617 Bartram
P.O. Box 118525
Gainesville, FL
32611-8525
Voice: (352) 846-3737
Fax: (352) 392-3704
rkimball@zoology.ufl.edu

Research Interests

I am broadly interested in evolutionary biology. My research has focused in two main areas. The first area is molecular phylogenetics and population genetics, primarily in birds and plants. The second area is behavioral ecology, where I am interested in mating systems, sexual selection and the evolution and proximate control of secondary sexual characters of birds. I am interested in integrating these two areas, by using phylogenetics to understand and examine the evolution of avian behaviors and traits, particularly male secondary sexual traits and by using molecular population genetic data to understand genetic consequences and conservation implications of different mating systems and behaviors.

Students Currently Supervised

Kin-Lan Han (PhD)
Conservation genetics.

Representative Publications

Cox, W. A., R.T. Kimball, and E. L. Braun. 2007. Phylogenetic position of the New World quail (Odontophoridae): eight nuclear loci and three mitochondrial regions contradict morphology and the Sibley-Ahlquist tapestry. Auk 124: 71-84.

Kimball, R.T. 2006. Hormonal control of avian coloration. Pp. 431-468. in Bird Coloration I: measurements and mechanisms. G. E. Hill and K. McGraw, eds. Harvard University Press.

Kimball, R.T. and D.J. Crawford. 2004. Phylogeny of Coreopsideae (Asteraceae) using ITS sequences suggests lability in reproductive characters. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 127-139.

Kimball, R.T., J.C. Bednarz, and P.G. Parker. 2003. Occurrence and evolution of cooperative breeding among diurnal raptors (Accipitridae and Falconidae). Auk 120: 717-729.

Kimball, R.T., E.D. Smith, and D.J. Crawford. 2003. Molecular phylogeny and evolution of Coreocarpus (Asteraceae). Evolution 57: 52-61.

Kimball, R.T., E.L. Braun, J.D. Ligon, E. Randi, and V. Lucchini. 2001. A Molecular Phylogeny of the Peacock-pheasants (Galliformes: Polyplectron spp.) Indicates Loss and Reduction of Ornamental Traits and Display Behaviors. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 73: 187-198.

Kimball, R.T., E.L. Braun, J.D. Ligon, E. Randi, and V. Lucchini. 2001. A Molecular Phylogeny of the Peacock-pheasants (Galliformes: Polyplectron spp.) Indicates Loss and Reduction of Ornamental Traits and Display Behaviors. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 73: 187-198.

Kimball, R.T. and J.D. Ligon. 1999. Evolution of avian plumage dichromatism from a proximate perspective. American Naturalist 154: 182-193.

Kimball, R.T., E.L. Braun, P. Zwartjes, T.M. Crowe, and J.D. Ligon. 1999. A molecular phylogeny of the pheasants and partridges suggests that these lineages are not monophyletic. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 11: 38-54.