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Rebecca Rose
Research Assistant, Herpetologyrrose@museum.vic.gov.au
Evolution, behaviour, genetics and conservation
I have a number of broad research interests, which include animal behaviour, ecology, conservation and evolution. I undertook my honours project under the supervision of Jane Melville, where I investigated body colour variation in Ctenophorus pictus, a species of Australian agamid lizard.
Following this, I spent three months assisting in ecological research on cheetahs in Namibia for the Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research. This work was primarily interested in home-range and dietary preferences of the cheetah. I then spent 12 months working on the Kalahari Meerkat Project in South Africa, where I assisted in the collection of behavioural data on 14 groups of habituated meerkats. This is a long-term project run by Cambridge and Zurich Universities.
On returning to Australia, I commenced a position as a research assistant at Museum Victoria. I am currently assisting on a project investigating the genetic basis of limb development in agamid lizards. Additionally, I am working on numerous projects involved in understanding the phylogenetic relationships of agamid lizards.
Previous Projects
My Honours research focused on body colour variation in the Painted Dragon, Ctenophorus pictus. Ctenophorus pictus is a desert lizard that shows distinct colour morphs across its range, which is thought to be associated with different coloured sands. Individuals on white sand are pale in colour, while individuals on red sand display red tones. I collected data on body colouration, morphology, ecology, and genetics to investigate background colour matching in the Painted Dragon. I found that female C. pictus show a significant relationship between dorsal body colouration and sand colour, with no evidence of genetic structuring. However, this relationship was not found in male lizards, suggesting that the sexes are under differing selection forces.
Publications
Shoo, L. P., Rose, R., Doughty, P., Austin, J. J. and Melville, J., (in review). Diversification patterns of pebble-mimic dragons are consistent with historical disruption of important habitat corridors in arid Australia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.Rose, R. J. and Melville, J., 2006. A new technique for measuring body color of lizards in the field. Herpetological Review.37, 191-94.
Rose, R. J., Ng, J. and Melville, J., 2006. A technique for restraining lizards for field and laboratory measurements. Herpetological Review.37, 194-95.
Austin, J. J., Rose, R. J. and Melville, J., 2005. Polymorphic microsatellite markers in the painted dragon lizard, Ctenophorus pictus. Molecular Ecology Notes. 6, 194-96.
