Professor
Member, CISAB

Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1984
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1984-88,
Postdoctoral Associate, Center for Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Rutgers University, 1989

Program Affiliation: Evolution, Ecology and Behavior

Research Groups Affiliation: Behavior | Ecology | Evolution

Phone: 812/855-1842
Fax: 812/855-6705
Email Curt

Lively Lab website

Why do so many organisms have two sexual morphs: male and female?  And why do the females cross-fertilize instead of producing clonal offspring?  Assuming no concomitant reduction in fecundity, an asexual female would produce twice as many daughters (and four times as many grand-daughters) as the average sexual female; and unchecked, the resulting clone would quickly replace the sexual females and males in the population.  Our approach has been to study species that have both sexual and asexual females, so that there is a firm basis for comparison between the two reproductive strategies.  Sexual reproduction in one such species, a freshwater New Zealand snail, is correlated with the incidence of infection by parasitic trematodes, which is consistent with the idea that the production of variable, cross-fertilized progeny is favored in populations where there is a high risk of infection (The Red Queen hypothesis).  We are presently involved in more detailed genetic and ecological studies of this snail in populations where sexual and asexual females coexist.  I am also interested in the evolution of parasite virulence, and the evolution of phenotypic plasticity.  Specific details can be found at http://www.indiana.edu/~curtweb/.

Hazel, W, R. Smock, and C. M. Lively.  2004.  The ecological genetics of conditional strategies. American Naturalist 163:888-900.

Lively, C.M., M.F. Dybdahl, J. Jokela, E. Osnas, L.F. Delph.  2004.  Host sex and local adaptation by parasites in a snail-trematode interaction.  American Naturalist (In press).

Bailey, M., L.F. Delph, and C.M. Lively.  2003.  Modeling gynodioecy: novel scenarios for maintaining polymorphism.  American Naturalist 161:762-776.

Agrawal, A.F. and C.M. Lively.  2003.  Modeling infection genetics as a two-step process combining gene-for-gene and matching-allele genetics.  Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B. 270:323-334.

Howard, R. S. and C. M. Lively.  2003.  Opposites attract? Mate choice for parasite evasion and the evolutionary stability of sex.  Journal of Evolutionary Biology 16:681-689.

Lively, C. M. and J. Jokela.  2002.  Temporal and spatial distributions of parasites and sex in a freshwater snail.  Evolutionary Ecology Research 4:219-226.

Howard, R. S. and C.M. Lively. 2002.  The ratchet and the Red Queen: the maintenance of sex in parasites.  Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15:648-656.

Agrawal, A. and C. M. Lively.  2001.  Parasites and the evolution of self fertilization.  Evolution 55:869-879.

Lively, C. M.  2001.  Propagule interactions and the evolution of virulence.  Journal of Evolutionary Biology 14:317-324.

Lively, C. M. and M. F. Dybdahl.  2000.  Parasite adaptation to locally common host genotypes.  Nature 405:679-681.