V. Louise Roth | Scholars@Duke

V. Louise Roth
Professor of Biology

In addition to conceptual work on the biological bases of homology, variation, and parallel evolution, my research has focused on evolutionary changes in size and shape in mammals: the functional consequences of these changes, and the evolutionary modifications of ontogenetic processes that produce them. This work makes use of DNA sequences, morphometric data, and geographic distributions to study macroevolutionary changes within a phylogenetic context. Projects have included DNA sequence phylogenies of squirrels, "virtual" (synchrotron radiation microCT) histology of bone growth in elephants and mammoths, experimental work on prenatal maternal effects on body size in large insular deermice, and morphometric studies of growth in elephants, dwarfism in an insular (Pleistocene) dwarf mammoth, and gigantism in insular deermice.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Biology, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2015
Professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Evolutionary Anthropology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2015

Contact Information

241 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
Duke Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708-0338
vlroth@duke.edu (919) 660-7352

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Yale University 1982
- M.Phil., Yale University 1978
- B.S., Brown University 1975
Previous Appointments & Affiliations
- Associate Professor of Biology, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2000 - 2015
- Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Evolutionary Anthropology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2008 - 2015
- Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Basic Science Departments, School of Medicine 1994 - 2004
- Associate Professor with Tenure, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1989 - 2000
- Associate Professor, Basic Science Departments, School of Medicine 1992 - 1999
- Associate Professor, Basic Science Departments, School of Medicine 1991 - 1992
- Assistant Professor, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1983 - 1989
Recognition
In the News
- AUG 17, 2021 Duke Research Blog
  
  How Whale Noses Moved to the Top of Their Head
- APR 9, 2019
  
  These Animal Skulls Will Blow Your Mind
- NOV 11, 2015 WFDD
  
  Hypercarnivores: Understanding the past, preserving the future
- OCT 23, 2015
  
  ‘Hypercarnivores’ Checked Large Ancient Herbivores
- JUN 22, 2015
  
  Island Rodents Take On Nightmarish Proportions
Expertise
Subject Headings
Research
Selected Grants
- Training Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology awarded by National Institutes of Health 2001 - 2027
- DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Factors Influencing the Coevolution of Peromyscus Maniculatus and its Ectoparasites on the California Channel Islands awarded by National Science Foundation 2013 - 2017
- DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Mechanical Properties and Functional Morphology of Mammalian Footpads awarded by National Science Foundation 2002 - 2004
- REU Supplement: Molecular Systematics of the Sciuridae awarded by National Science Foundation 1998 - 2004
- Molecular Systematics of the Sciuridae awarded by National Science Foundation 1998 - 2002
- Dissertation Research: Evolution and Functional Morphology in Incisors in Wood-Cutting Castorids awarded by National Science Foundation 2000 - 2001
- A Comparative Study of Cranial Development in the Thamnophiine Snakes awarded by National Science Foundation 1991 - 1993
- Systematic and Allometry of Pygmy Squirrels awarded by National Science Foundation 1986 - 1989
- Systematics and Allometry of Pygmy Squirrels awarded by National Science Foundation 1986 - 1989
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Roston, R. A., & Roth, V. L. (2021). Different transformations underlie blowhole and nasal passage development in a toothed whale (Odontoceti: Stenella attenuata) and a baleen whale (Mysticeti: Balaenoptera physalus). Journal of Anatomy, 239(5), 1141–1156. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13492
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  - Roston, R. A., & Roth, V. L. (2019). Cetacean Skull Telescoping Brings Evolution of Cranial Sutures into Focus. Anatomical Record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007), 302(7), 1055–1073. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24079
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  - Badgley, C., Smiley, T. M., Terry, R., Davis, E. B., DeSantis, L. R. G., Fox, D. L., … Yanites, B. J. (2017). Biodiversity and Topographic Complexity: Modern and Geohistorical Perspectives. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 32(3), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.12.010
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  - Hoehn, K. B., Harnik, P. G., & Roth, V. L. (2016). A framework for detecting natural selection on traits above the species level. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 7(3), 331–339. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12461
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  - Van Valkenburgh, B., Hayward, M. W., Ripple, W. J., Meloro, C., & Roth, V. L. (2016). The impact of large terrestrial carnivores on Pleistocene ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(4), 862–867.
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  - Durst, P. A. P., & Roth, V. L. (2015). Mainland size variation informs predictive models of exceptional insular body size change in rodents. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 282(1810). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0239
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  - Curtin, A. J., MacDowell, A. A., Schaible, E. G., & Roth, V. L. (2012). Noninvasive histological comparison of bone growth patterns among fossil and extant neonatal elephantids using synchrotron radiation X-ray microtomography. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 32(4), 939–955. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2012.672388
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  - Price, S. A., Hopkins, S. S. B., Smith, K. K., & Roth, V. L. (2012). Tempo of trophic evolution and its impact on mammalian diversification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(18), 7008–7012. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1117133109
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  - Durst, P. A. P., & Roth, V. L. (2012). Classification tree methods provide a multifactorial approach to predicting insular body size evolution in rodents. The American Naturalist, 179(4), 545–553. https://doi.org/10.1086/664611
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  - Chi, K.-J., & Louise Roth, V. (2010). Scaling and mechanics of carnivoran footpads reveal the principles of footpad design. Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 7(49), 1145–1155. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2009.0556
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  - Siegel, S. J., Percopo, C. M., Dyer, K. D., Zhao, W., Roth, V. L., Mercer, J. M., & Rosenberg, H. F. (2009). RNase 1 genes from the family Sciuridae define a novel rodent ribonuclease cluster. Mammalian Genome : Official Journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society, 20(11–12), 749–757. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-009-9215-4
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  - Curtin, A. J., MacDowell, A. A., Schaible, E. G., & Roth, V. L. (2009). Non-invasive histological comparison of bone growth patterns among fossil and extant neonatal elephantids using synchrotron radiation X-ray microtomography. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 49, E42–E42.
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  - Louise Roth, V., & Mercer, J. M. (2008). Differing rates of macroevolutionary diversification in arboreal squirrels. Current Science, 95(7), 857–861.
  - Davis, C. M., & Roth, V. L. (2008). The evolution of sexual size dimorphism in cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus, Leporidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 95, 141–156.
  - Mercer, J. M., & Roth, V. L. (2003). The effects of Cenozoic global change on squirrel phylogeny. Science (New York, N.Y.), 299(5612), 1568–1572. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1079705
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  - Louise Roth, V., & Mercer, J. M. (2000). Morphometrics in development and evolution. American Zoologist, 40(5), 801–810. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/40.5.801
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  - Agenbroad, L., Morris, D., & Roth, V. L. (1999). Pygmy mammoths Mammuthus exilis from Channel Islands National Park, California (USA). Deinsea: Annual of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, 89–102.
  - Abouheif, E., Akam, M., Dickinson, W. J., Holland, P. W., Meyer, A., Patel, N. H., … Wray, G. A. (1997). Homology and developmental genes. Trends in Genetics : Tig, 13(11), 432–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0168-9525(97)01271-7
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  - Velhagen, W. A., & Roth, V. L. (1997). Scaling of the mandible in squirrels. Journal of Morphology, 232(2), 107–132. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-4687(199705)232:2<107::aid-jmor1>3.0.co;2-7
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  - Roth, V. L., & Dawson, W. D. (1996). Coat color genetics of Peromyscus: V. California blonde, a new recessive mutation in the deer mouse. The Journal of Heredity, 87(5), 403–406. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a023025
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  - Louise Roth, V. (1996). Cranial integration in the sciuridae. American Zoologist, 36(1), 14–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/36.1.14
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  - Ball, S. S., & Roth, V. L. (1995). Jaw muscles of New World squirrels. Journal of Morphology, 224(3), 265–291. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.1052240303
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  - Roth, V. L. (1992). Quantitative variation in elephant dentitions: Implications for the delimitation of fossil species. Paleobiology, 18(2), 184–202. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0094837300013968
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  - Roth, V. L. (1992). Inferences from allometry and fossils: dwarfing of elephants on islands. Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology. Vol. 8, 259–288.
  - Roth, V. L. (1991). Homology and hierarchies: Problems solved and unresolved. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 4(2), 167–194. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1420-9101.1991.4020167.x
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  - Roth, V. L. (1989). Fabricational noise in elephant dentitions. Paleobiology, 15(2), 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0094837300009349
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  - Roth, V. L., & Shoshani, J. (1988). Dental identification and age determination in Elephas maximus. Journal of Zoology, 214, 567–588.
  - Roth, V. L., & Klein, M. S. (1986). Maternal effects on body size of large insular Peromyscus maniculatus: evidence from embryo transfer experiments. Journal of Mammalogy, 67, 37–45.
  - Cushing, J., Daily, M., Noble, E., Louise Roth, V., & Wenner, A. (1984). Fossil mammoths from Santa Cruz Island, California. Quaternary Research, 21(3), 376–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(84)90076-0
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  - ROTH, V. L. (1984). On homology. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 22(1), 13–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1984.tb00796.x
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  - Roth, V. L. (1984). How elephants grow: heterochrony and the calibration of developmental stages in some living and fossil species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 4, 126–145.
  - Roth, V. L., & Thorington, R. W. (1982). Relative brain size among African squirrels. Journal of Mammalogy, 63, 168–173.
  - Roth, V. L. (1981). Constancy in the size ratios of sympatric species. American Naturalist, 118, 394–404.
  - Roth, V. L. (1979). Can quantum leaps in body size be recognized among mammalian species? Paleobiology, 5, 318–336.
- Book Sections
  - Roth, V. L., & Mercer, J. M. (2015). Themes and variation in sciurid evolution. In P. G. Cox & L. Hautier (Eds.), Evolution of the Rodents: Advances in Phylogenetics, Functional Morphology and Development (pp. 221–245). Cambridge University Press.
  - Roth, V. L. (2013). Within and Between Organisms: Replicators, Lineages, and Homologues. In Homology: The Hierarchical Basis of Comparative Biology (pp. 301–337). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-057430-1.50015-9
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  - Roth, V. L. (2005). Variation and versatility in macroevolution. In B. HallgrÍmsson & B. K. Hall (Eds.), Variation, a Central Concept in Biology (pp. 455–474). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012088777-4/50021-1
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  - Roth, V. L. (2001). Character replication. In G. P. Wagner (Ed.), The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology (pp. 81–107). Academic Press.
  - Roth, V. L. (1996). Pleistocene dwarf elephants of the California Islands. In J. Shoshani & P. Tassy (Eds.), The Proboscidea: Evolution and Palaeoecology of Elephants and their Relatives (pp. 249–253). Oxford University Press.
  - Todd, N. E., & Roth, V. L. (1996). Origin and radiation of the Elephantidae. In J. Shoshani & P. Tassy (Eds.), The Proboscidea: Evolution and Palaeoecology of Elephants and their Relatives (pp. 193–202). Oxford University Press.
  - Agenbroad, L. D., Lister, A. M., Mol, D., & Roth, V. L. (1994). Mammuthus primigenius remains from the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota. In L. D. Agenbroad & J. I. Mead (Eds.), The Hot Springs Mammoth Site: a Decade of Field and Laboratory Research in Paleontology, Geology, and Paleoecology (pp. 269–281). Hot Springs, SD: The Mammoth Site.
  - Roth, V. L. (1994). Within and between organisms: Replicators, lineages, and homologues. In B. K. Hall (Ed.), Homology: the Hierarchical Basis of Comparative Biology (pp. 310–337). Academic Press.
  - Roth, V. L. (1993). Dwarfism and variability in the Santa Rosa island mammoth: An interspecific comparison of limb-bone sizes and shapes in elephants. In F. G. Hochberg (Ed.), Third California Islands Symposium: Recent Advances in Research on the California Islands (pp. 433–442). Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
  - Roth, V. L. (1993). On three-dimensional morphometrics, and on the identification of landmark points. In L. Marcus, E. Bello, & A. G. Valdecasas (Eds.), Advances in Morphometrics (pp. 41–61). Madrid: Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales.
  - Roth, V. L. (1990). Insular dwarf elephants - a case study in body mass estimation and ecological inference. In J. Damuth & B. J. MacFadden (Eds.), Body Size in Mammalian Paleobiology: Estimation and Biological Implications (pp. 151–180). Cambridge University Press.
  - Roth, V. L. (1988). The biological basis of homology. In C. J. Humphries (Ed.), Ontogeny and Systematics (pp. 1–26). Columbia University Press.
- Other Articles
  - Roth, V. L. (2014). Macroecology of animal body size. Bioscience (Bioone). Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B.
  - Roth, V. L. (1999). Homology. Novartis Foundation Symposium #222. John Wiley & Sons.
  - Roth, V. L. (1998). Homoplasy: the recurrence of similarity in evolution. American Scientist: the Magazine of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.
  - Roth, V. L. (1994). Mammoths, mastodonts, and elephants: biology, behavior and the fossil record. Journal of Mammalogy. Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option B.
  - Roth, V. L. (1989). On evolution and fossil mammals. American Scientist: the Magazine of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.
  - Roth, V. L. (1988). Vertebrate fetal membranes: comparative ontogeny and morphology; evolution; phylogenetic significance; basic functions; research opportunities. Quarterly Review of Biology. University of Chicago Press.
  - Roth, V. L. (1987). The Sumatran Rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis (1814) in The Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia; Its Distribution, Ecology, and Conservation. Systematic Zoology.
- Conference Papers
  - Roston, R. A., & Roth, V. L. (2020). Different developmental transformations underly blowhole orientation in a toothed whale (Odontoceti: Stenella attenuata ) and a baleen whale (Mysticeti: Balaenoptera physalus ). In The Faseb Journal (Vol. 34, pp. 1–1). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.06553
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  - Roston, R. A., Yamato, M., & Roth, V. L. (2017). Bone overlap (telescoping) and the role of the basicranium in reorientation of the nasal passage in cetacean skulls. In Integrative and Comparative Biology (Vol. 57, pp. E391–E391). New Orleans, LA: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC.
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  - Durst, P. A., & Roth, V. L. (2013). Examining factors influencing body size change for insular rodents. In Integrative and Comparative Biology (Vol. 53, pp. E59–E59).
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  - Chi, K.-J., Schmitt, D., & Roth, V. L. (2009). Different functional mechanisms of foot-footpad complex for plantigrade and digitigrade mammals in the context of locomotion. In Integrative and Comparative Biology (Vol. 49, pp. E32–E32). Salt Lake, UT: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC.
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  - Chi, K. J., & Roth, V. L. (2004). Scaling of foot contact area and its mechanical implications for mammals of different foot postures. In Integrative and Comparative Biology (Vol. 44, pp. 535–535). San Diego, CA: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC.
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  - Roth, V. L. (2001). Ecology and evolution of dwarfing in insular elephants. In P. G. Cavarretta, M. Mussi, & M. R. Palombo (Eds.) (pp. 507–509). Presented at the The World of Elephants: Proceedings of the 1st International Congress, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche: Rome.
  - Roth, V. L. (1999). Morphometrics in development and evolution. In American Zoologist (Vol. 39, pp. 108A-108A). SOC INTEGRATIVE COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY.
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  - ROTH, V., & DISHOP, M. (1994). Evolutionary Relationships Among the Scriurdae - Analysis of Cranial Characters in Tree, ground, and Flying Squirrels. In Journal of Morphology (Vol. 222, pp. 111–111).
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- Theses and Dissertations
  - Roth, V. L. (1982). Dwarf mammoths from the Santa Barbara, California Channel Islands: size, shape, development and evolution. Presented at the Yale University.
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
- BIOLOGY 89S: First-Year Seminar 2023
- BIOLOGY 546S: Biology of Mammals 2022
- BIOLOGY 588S: Macroevolution 2022
- EVANTH 588S: Macroevolution 2022
- BIOLOGY 89S: First-Year Seminar 2021

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Previous Appointments & Affiliations

In the News

Subject Headings

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Other Articles

Conference Papers

Theses and Dissertations

Recent Courses