Research overview: My research focuses on the historical and present-day factors that govern biological adaptation and their consequences for diversity. To achieve this goal, I study vertebrate and invertebrate feeding systems because they display a wide diversity of phenotypic traits associated with consuming particular diets. Given the spectacular diversity of form, function, and behavior amongst animal feeding systems, I aspire to test broad questions in ecological and evolutionary biology such as: How is morphological variation related to variation in behavior, performance, ecology, and ultimately fitness at both the macro and micro-evolutionary levels? Do macro-evolutionary patterns reflect micro-evolutionary processes? How do evolutionary history and phenotypic integration interact to facilitate and/or constrain adaptation? Accordingly, I take an integrative approach to the study of adaptation. Some of the techniques used in my work include: anatomical dissections (gross and micro), 2-D and 3-D kinematic analysis, mark-recapture methods, microsatellite analysis, phylogenetic comparative methods, and videofluroscopy.

Education/Positions held

2007-present Postdoctoral Fellow Illinois State University
2006-2007 Postdoctoral Fellow Kyoto University, Japan
2001-2005 Graduate student (Ph.D.), Tulane University "Functional implications of diet in snakes"
1998-2001 Undergraduate (B.S., Biology), Loyola University New Orleans, Honors in Biological Science

Teaching experience

2007: Human Anatomy and Physiology, Herzing College
2004-2005 (Spring) Teaching assistant, Vertebrate Morphology, Tulane University
2003 (Fall) Guest lecturer, Ecological Physiology, Tulane University
2002 (Fall) Guest lecturer, Tropical Herpetology, Tulane University
2001-2005 Teaching assistant, Diversity of Life, Tulane University

Grants

Declining Amphibians Task Force. 2000. Monitoring West Indian amphibian declines using digital frogloggers. $2000USD
Tulane travel grant. 2001. $500USD
Sigma Xi Grant-in-aid of Research. 2002. $500USD
California Academy of Sciences: Charles Sterns memorial grant for herpetological research. 2003. $800USD
Company of Biologists Ltd. "Sexual dimorphism in feeding performance in the highly dimorphic Arafurae filesnake" 2004. $3600USD
Tulane and Newcomb colleges. Undergraduate research grants (w/ John Rossell and Phuong-Di Dang). 2004. $4600USD
Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship. "Laboratory versus field estimates of ecological performance". 2006-2007. $60,000USD
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Symposium support provided by the Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Division of Vertebrate Morphology and Division of Animal Behavior. "Ecological dimorphisms in vertebrates: proximate and ultimate causes" 2007. $2000USD
National Geographic Society CRE Grant. "Adaptive insular gigantism in a Japanese snake". $20,000USD

Peer-reviewed publications

1) Vincent S.E., Herrel, A., Irschick, D.J. 2004. Ontogeny of intersexual head shape and prey selection in the pitviper Agkistrodon piscivorus. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 81:151-159. Full text (pdf).

2) Vincent S.E., Herrel, A., Irschick, D.J. 2004. Sexual dimorphism in head shape and diet in the cottonmouth snake (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Journal of Zoology, London. 264:53-59. Full text (pdf).

3) Michael, S.F., Buckley, C., Toro, E., Estrada, A. and Vincent, S.E.. 2004. Induced ovulation and egg deposition in the direct developing anuran Eleutherodactylus coqui. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. 2:4-8.

4) Vincent S.E., Herrel, A., Irschick, D.J. 2005. Comparisons of aquatic vs. terrestrial strike kinematics and performance in a pitviper, Agkistrodon piscivorus. Journal of Experimental Zoology. 303A:476-488. Full text (pdf).

5) Vincent, S.E., Shine, R. and Brown, G.P. 2005. Does foraging mode influence sensory modalites for prey detection? A comparison between males and female filesnakes (Acrochordus arafurae, Acrochordidae). Animal Behaviour. 70:715-721. Full text (pdf).

6) Vincent, S.E. and Lailvaux, S.P. 2006. Female morphology, web design, and the potential for multiple mating in Nephila clavipes: Do fat-bottomed girls make the spider world go round? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 87:95-102. Full text (pdf).

7) Vincent, S.E., Moon, B.R., Shine, R. and Herrel, A. 2006. The functional meaning of "prey size" in water snakes (Nerodia fasciata, Colubridae). Oecologia. 147:204-211. Full text (pdf).

8) Vincent, S.E., Dang, P.D.*, Irschick, D.J. and Rossell, J.* 2006. Do juvenile gape-limited predators compensate for their small size when feeding? Journal of Zoology, London 268:279-284. Full text (pdf).

9) Vincent, S.E. 2006. Sex-based divergence in head shape and diet in the Eastern Lubber grasshopper (Romalea microptera), Zoology Analysis of Complex Systems 109:331-338. Full text (pdf).

10) Vincent, S.E., Dang, P.D.*, Herrel, A. and Kley, N.J. 2006. Morphological integration and adaptation in the snake feeding system. A comparative phylogenetic study. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 109:1545-1554. Full text (pdf).

11) Vincent, S.E. and Herrel, A. 2007. Functional and ecological correlates of ecological dimorphisms in squamate reptiles. Integrative and Comparative Biology 47:172-188 . Full text (pdf).

12) Lailvaux, S.P and Vincent, S.E. 2007. Proximate and ultimate causes of ecological dimorphisms in vertebrates: an introduction to the symposium. Integrative and Comparative Biology 47:169-171.

13) Vincent, S.E., Moon, B.R., Herrel, A. and Kley, N.J. 2007. Are ontogenetic shifts in diet linked to shifts in feeding mechanics? Scaling of the feeding apparatus in the banded watersnake, Nerodia fasciata. Journal of Experimental Biology. 210: 2057-2069. Cover Photo . Full text (pdf).

14) Vincent, S.E. and Mori, A. 2008. Determinants of feeding performance in free-ranging pit-vipers (Viperidae: Ovophis okinavensis): key roles for head size and body temperature. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 93:53-62. Full text (pdf)

15) Vincent, S.E. and Lailvaux, S.P. 2008. Can phenotypic integration constrain sexual size dimorphism in the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper? Journal of Orthoptera Research. Invited Article to be published in a special issue.

16) Mori, A. and Vincent, S.E. (in press). An integrative approach to specialization: relationships among morphology, behavior, performance, and diet between two syntopic snakes. Journal of Zoology, London.

*Undergraduate

Symposia organized

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Phoenix, USA. 2007. "Ecological dimorphisms in vertebrates: proximate and ultimate causes". Co-organized w/ S.P. Lailvaux, A. Herrel and E. Taylor.

Professional affiliations

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Animal Behaviour Society (ABS)
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH)
International Society of Vertebrate Morphologists (ISVM)
Herpetological Society of Japan (HSJ)
Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB)
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR)