Nicholas A. Levis

Refereed Journal Articles & Book Chapters (also see Google Scholar)

*denotes undergraduate co-author; † co-first authors

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-------Please do not hesitate to contact me for access to any of these publications-------

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2024

Nicholson, R.G.*, Levis, N.A., and Ragsdale, E.J. 2024. Genetic regulators of a resource polyphenism interact to couple predatory morphology and behaviour. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 291: 20240153. link

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Isdaner, A.J., Levis, N.A., Ehrenreich, I.M., and Pfennig, D.W. 2024. Genetic variants underlying plasticity in natural populations of spadefoot toads: environmental assessment versus phenotypic response. Genes 15: 611. link

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2023

Levis, N.A. and Ragsdale, E.J. 2023. A histone demethylase links the loss of plasticity to nongenetic inheritance and morphological change. Nature Communications 14: 8439. link

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Isdaner, A.J.†, Levis, N.A.†, and Pfennig, D.W. 2023. Comparative transcriptomics reveals that a novel form of phenotypic plasticity evolved via lineage-specific changes in gene expression. Ecology and Evolution 13: e10646. link

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Dantzer, B., Mabry, K.E., Berhardt, J.R, Cox, R.M., Francis, C.D., Ghalambor, C.K., Hoke, K.L., Jha, S., Ketterson, E., Levis, N.A., McCain, K.M., Patricelli, G.L., Paull, S. H., Pinter-Wollman, N., Safran, R.J., Schwartz, T.S., Throop, H.L., Zaman, L., and Martin, L.B. 2023. Understanding organisms using ecological observatory networks. Integrative Organismal Biology 5: Obad036. link

 

2022

Levis, N.A., McKay, D.J., and Pfennig, D.W. 2022. Disentangling the developmental origins of a novel phenotype: enhancement versus reversal of environmentally induced gene expression. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 289: 20221764. link

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Levis, N.A. and Ragsdale, E.J. 2022. Linking molecular mechanisms and evolutionary consequences of resource polyphenism. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 16: 805061. link

            -Invited contribution to Research Topic "Sensory Ecology of Phenotypic Plasticity: from Receptors via Modulators to Effectors"

 

2021

Levis, N.A., Kelly, P.W., Harmon, E.A., Ehrenreich, I.M., McKay, D.J., and Pfennig, D.W. 2021. Transcriptomic bases of a polyphenism. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 336: 482-495. link

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Scheiner, S.M. and Levis, N.A. 2021. “The loss of phenotypic plasticity via natural selection: genetic assimilation”. In Phenotypic Plasticity & Evolution: Causes, Consequences, Controversies (pp 161-181). Ed. D.W. Pfennig. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. link

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2021. “Innovation and diversification via plasticity-led evolution”. In Phenotypic Plasticity & Evolution: Causes, Consequences, Controversies (pp 211-240). Ed. D.W. Pfennig. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. link

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2020

Levis, N.A., Reed, E.M.X., Pfennig, D.W., and Burford Reiskind, M.O. 2020. Identification of candidate loci for adaptive phenotypic plasticity in natural populations of spadefoot toads. Ecology and Evolution 10:8976-8988. link

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Levis, N.A., Fuller, C.G.* and Pfennig, D.W. 2020. An experimental investigation of how intraspecific competition and phenotypic plasticity can promote the evolution of novel, complex phenotypes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 131: 76-87. link

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2020. “Phenotypic plasticity and the origins of novelty”. In Phenotypic Switching: Implications in Biology and Medicine. (pp 443-458). Eds. Herbert Levine, Mohit Kumar Jolly, Prakash Kulkarni, and Vidyanand Nanjundiah. Elsevier Publishing Cambridge, MA.

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2020. Plasticity-led evolution: a survey of developmental mechanisms and empirical tests. Evolution and Development 22: 71-87. link

            - Invited contribution to special theme issue "Developmental Bias"

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2019

Seidl, F., Levis, N.A., Schell, R., Pfennig, D.W., Pfennig, K.S. and Ehrenreich, I.M. 2019. Genome of the rapidly developing, phenotypically plastic, and desert-adapted spadefoot toad. Genes, Genomes, Genetics 9: 3909-3919. link

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Seidl, F., Levis, N.A., Jones, C.D., Monroy-Eklund, A. Ehrenreich, I.M. and Pfennig, K.S. 2019. Variation in hybrid gene expression: implications for the evolution of genetic incompatibilities in interbreeding species. Molecular Ecology 28: 4667-4679. link

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2019. How stabilizing selection and nongenetic inheritance combine to shape the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 32: 706-716. link

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2019. Plasticity-led evolution: evaluating the key prediction of frequency-dependent adaptation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 286: 20182754. link

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2019. Phenotypic plasticity, canalization, and the origins of novelty: evidence and mechanisms from amphibians. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 88: 80-90. link

            - Invited contribution to special theme issue "Canalization"

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2018

Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2018. Evolution of phenotypic plasticity and gene expression during character displacement. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Chichester. link

            - Invited peer-reviewed contribution to eLS (Essential for Life Science)

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Levis, N.A., Isdaner, A.J., and Pfennig D.W. Morphological novelty emerges from pre-existing phenotypic plasticity. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2: 1289-1297. link1 link2

            - Recommended by Faculty of 1000

            - Featured in “Buying Time” (2018). Science. 362: 988-991

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2017

Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2017. “Phenotypic Plasticity.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Evolutionary Biology. Ed. Karin Pfennig. New York: Oxford University Press. link

 

Levis, N.A., Martin, R.A., O’Donnell, K.A*, and Pfennig, D.W. 2017. Intraspecific adaptive radiation: competition, ecological opportunity, and phenotypic diversification within species. Evolution 71: 2496-2509. link

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Levis, N.A., Serrato-Capuchina, A., Pfennig, D.W. 2017.Genetic accommodation in the wild: evolution of gene expression plasticity during character displacement. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 30: 563-574. link

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2016

Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2016. Evaluating ‘plasticity-first’ evolution in nature: key criteria and empirical approaches. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 31: 563-574. link 

- "Highly cited paper" on Web of Science

 

Levis, N.A., Schooler, M.*, Johnson, J.R. and Collyer, M.L. 2016. Non-adaptive phenotypic plasticity: the effects of terrestrial and aquatic herbicides on larval salamander morphology and swim speed. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118: 569-581. link

 

2015

Levis, N.A. and Johnson, J.R. 2015. Level of UV-B radiation influences the effects of glyphosate-based herbicide on the spotted salamander. Ecotoxicology 1073-1086. link

 

Levis, N.A., de la Serna Buzon, S. and Pfennig, D.W. 2015. An inducible offense: carnivore morph tadpoles induced by tadpole carnivory. Ecology and Evolution 5:1405-1411. link

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2012

Levis, N.A., Yi, S.-X. and Lee, R.E. 2012. Mild desiccation rapidly increases freeze tolerance of the goldenrod gall fly, Eurosta solidaginis: Evidence for drought-induced rapid cold-hardening. Journal of Experimental Biology 215: 3768-3773. link

 

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Not peer-reviewed

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Ragsdale, E.J. and Levis, N.A. 2022. Losses of plasticity convergently targeted a morphology-influencing gene during Diplogastrid stoma evolution. Journal of Nematology 54: 103.

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2020. Evolution: ancestral plasticity promoted extreme temperature adaptation in thermophilic bacteria. Current Biology. link

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Levis, N.A. 2018. Ancestral plasticity paves the way for evolutionary novelty in spadefoot toads. Extended Evolutionary Synthesis Blog. link

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Levis, N.A. 2018. Behind the Paper: "Phenotypic plasticity & the Origins of Novelty". Nature Ecology and Evolution Community. link

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Levis, N.A. and Pfennig, D.W. 2016. Organisms and their environment: An evolving relationship. Evolution. (review of Organism & Environment: Ecological Development, Niche Construction, and Adaptation, by S. E. Sultan) link

 

Levis, N.A. 2013. Lithobates sylvaticus (wood frog): Unusual mortality. Herpetological Review 44 (3): 497-498. link