Rabeling, Christian

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
http://www.rochester.edu/College/BIO/professors/rabeling

Dr. Rabeling received his Diploma in Biology from the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany in 2004. As an undergraduate student he studied abroad for one year at the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010 and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to study at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Dr. Rabeling was elected a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows in 2011. In 2014, he accepted a faculty position at the University of Rochester, where he started his laboratory to continue his studies about the evolutionary biology of ants.
 * Career

I am studying the evolutionary genetics of ants and my research integrates evolutionary biology, genetics, taxonomy, and natural history studies. Currently, I am most interested in understanding how social parasitism evolved and how this change in social organization contributes to speciation. To explore this question, I am combining molecular phylogenetic, population genetic and genomic approaches. An integral part of my research is fieldwork and in depth natural history studies, which often lead to new discoveries that are further explored in the laboratory.
 * Research Interests

ANT TAXONOMY
Published papers on the taxonomy of fungus-gardening ant genera Trachymyrmex and Mycocepurus, and the basal ant lineage Martialis heureka.

PUBLICATIONS

 * Mueller, U. G.; Dash, D.; Rabeling, C.; Rodrigues, A. 2008. Coevolution between attine ants and actinomycete bacteria: a reevaluation. Evolution 62:2894-2912. [2008-11] PDF 131899


 * [[Media:Mueller&Rabeling 2008.pdf|Mueller, U. G.; Rabeling, C. 2008. A breakthrough innovation in animal evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105:5287-5288. [2008-04-08] PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling & Bacci 2010.pdf|Rabeling, C. & Bacci M. 2010. A new workerless inquiline in the Lower Attini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a discussion of social parasitism in fungus-growing ants. Systematic Entomology 35:379-392. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabelingetal2013A.pdf|Rabeling C, Bollazzi M, Bacci M, Beasley RR, Lance SL, Jones KL, Pierce NE. 2013. Development and characterization of twenty-two polymorphic microsatellite markers for the leafcutter ant, Acromyrmex lundii, utilizing Illumina sequencing. Conservation Genetics Resources, doi:10.1007/s12686-013-0078-3. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling Brown & Verhaagh 2008.pdf|Rabeling C, Brown JM & Verhaagh M. 2008. Newly discovered sister lineage sheds light on early ant evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (39): 14913-14917. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling & Cover 2007.pdf|Rabeling C, Cover SP, Mueller UG & Johnson RA. 2007. A review of the North American species of the fungus-gardening ant genus Trachymyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 1664:1-54. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling et al 2011.pdf|Rabeling, C.; Gonzales, O.; Schultz, T. R.; Bacci, M. 2011. Cryptic sexual populations account for genetic diversity and ecological success in a widely distributed, asexual fungus-growing ant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108:12366-12371. [2011-07-26] PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling&Kronauer2013.pdf|Rabeling C & Kronauer DJC. 2013. Evolution of thelytokous parthenogenesis in eusocial Hymenoptera. Annual Review of Entomology 58: 273-292. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling et al 2009.pdf| Rabeling C, Lino Neto J, Cappellari SC, Santos IA, Mueller UG & Bacci M. 2009. Thelytokous parthenogenesis in the fungus-gardening ant Mycocepurus smithii (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). PLoS ONE 4(8): e6781. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006781. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling et al 2007.pdf|Rabeling, C.; Verhaagh, M.; Engels, W. 2007. Comparative study of nest architecture and colony structure of the fungus-growing ants, Mycocepurus goeldii and M. smithii. Journal of Insect Science 7: Article 40 PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabelingetal2012.pdf|Rabeling C, Verhaagh M, Garcia MVB. 2012. Observations on the specialized predatory behavior of the pitchfork-mandibled ponerine ant Thaumatomyrmex paludis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Breviora 533: 1-8. PDF]]


 * Rabeling C, Verhaagh M & Mueller UG. 2006. Behavioral ecology and natural history of Blepharidatta brasiliensis (Formicidae: Blepharidattini). Insectes Sociaux 53: 300-307.


 * [[Media:Sousa Calvo et al 2013.pdf|Sosa-Calvo, J.; Schultz, T. R.; Brandão, C. R. F.; Klingenberg, C.; Feitosa, R. M.; Rabeling, C.; Bacci, M., Jr.; Lopes, C. T.; Vasconcelos, H. L. 2013. Cyatta abscondita: Taxonomy, evolution, and natural history of a new fungus-farming ant genus from Brazil. PLoS ONE 8:e80498. [2013-11-15] PDF]]