John Arthur Endler (born 1947) is a Canadian
ethologist
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...
and
evolutionary biologist
Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life for ...
noted for his work on the
adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
of
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
s to their unique
perceptual
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sense, sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous ...
environments, and the ways in which animal
sensory capacities and
colour
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
patterns
co-evolve
In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well ...
.
Education and early life
Born in Canada, Endler took his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
degree at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
Career and research
After his PhD, Endler worked at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
(1973-1979), the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
(1979-1986), the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
(1986-2006), the
James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...
of North Queensland, Australia and is currently working at
Deakin University
Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia.
Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...
in Victoria, Australia. In 2006 he was appointed as an Anniversary Professor of Animal Behaviour in the School of Psychology at the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...
, England. In 2007 he was elected as a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
. In 2009 he joined the Centre for Integrative Biology at Deakin University (Australia) where he is an Alfred Deakin Professor. In 2012 he was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. In April 2020 Endler was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
(FRS).
Endler has carried out extensive work on
guppies
The guppy (), also known as millionfish and rainbow fish, is one of the world's most widely distributed tropical fish and one of the most popular List of freshwater aquarium fish species, freshwater aquarium fish species. It is a member of the ...
, including in 1975 rediscovering the species now known to
aquarists
Fishkeeping is a popular hobby, practiced by aquarists, concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. There is also a piscicultural fishkeeping industry, serving as a branch of agriculture.
Origins of fishkeeping
Fish have ...
as
Endler's guppy
''Poecilia wingei'', known to aquarists as Endlers or Endler's livebearer, in the genus ''Poecilia'', is a small fish native to the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela. They are prolific breeders and often hybridize with guppies. These very colorful h ...
, in his honour; this brightly coloured fish is sometimes regarded as a geographical variant of the common guppy ''Poecilia reticulata'', but is now usually treated as a separate species, ''Poecilia wingei''. Although it had been recorded before Endler's discovery, it had not been properly studied and documented. Among biologists, however, he is better known for his experimental work on inducing small-scale
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
in the laboratory. In addition to his work on guppies he has studied many other species, including investigating the bower-building behaviour of
bowerbirds
Bowerbirds () make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate.
The family ...
in North
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia.
In 2008 the
European Research Council
The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...
announced that he was among the first cohort of Life Scientists to receive an award under its Advanced Grants scheme. In 2012 he was elected a
Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists.
Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy. ...
.
Books
*Endler, John A. (1977). ''Geographic Variation, Speciation, and Clines''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
*Endler, John A. (1986). ''Natural Selection in the Wild''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Journal articles
*Endler, J. A. (1980). Natural selection on color patterns in ''Poecilia reticulata''. ''Evolution, 34'', 76–91.
*Endler, J. A., McLellan, T. (1988). The Processes of Evolution: Toward a Newer Synthesis. ''Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 19'', 395–421.
*Endler, J. A. (1990). On the measurement and classification of color in studies of animal color patterns. ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 41'', 315–352.
*Reznick, D. A., Bryga, H., & Endler, J. A. (1990). Experimentally induced life history evolution in a natural population. ''Nature, 346'', 357–359.
*Endler, J. A., & Day, L. B (2006). Ornament colour selection, visual contrast and the shape of colour preference functions in great bowerbirds, ''Chlamydera nuchalis''. ''Animal Behaviour, 72'', 1405–1416.
*Endler, J. A., & Mielke, P. W. (2005). Comparing entire colour patterns as birds see them. ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 86'', 405–431.
*Endler, J. A., Westcott, D. A., Madden, J. R., & Robson, T (2005). Animal visual systems and the evolution of color patterns: Sensory processing illuminates signal evolution. ''Evolution, 59'', 1795–1818.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Endler, John
1947 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Canadian biologists
Canadian expatriates in Australia
Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Ethologists
Evolutionary biologists
Extended evolutionary synthesis
Academics of the University of Exeter
Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science
Fellows of the Royal Society