My research on mate choice in salamanders focuses on mating systems in which species mate multiply and store sperm. I examine aspects of courtship, sperm competition, and cryptic female choice in addition to the basic questions of mate choice and male-male competition in these systems. To examine these questions I employ both behavioral and genetic based experiments. I have examined sequential female mate choice in two species of newts that mate multiply in a breeding season, store sperm between matings, and gain no other known resources from males: smooth newts, Triturus v. vulgaris, and red-spotted newts, Notophthalmus v. viridescens. Working with Dr. John Krenz, and Dr. Robert Jaeger, we have also used paternity exclusion analysis based on allozymes to examine the sperm precedence patterns in red-spotted newts. I plan to follow this research up by studying the same questions in other species of newts in conjunction with a the known phylogeny of Salamandridae to examine the evolution of courtship behavior in newts. These areas of research have also lead me down divergent paths in behavioral ecology such as parent-offspring kin discrimination and social interactions between species. My previous work on social behavior in salamander territorial systems provides a basis for further exploration.

GABOR THE FEARLESS NEWT HUNTER