Peer-Reviewed Publications
Westmont Student Authors Indicated in Bold
2022
Rurik, A.J., Wilmoth, S.C., Dayton, K.D., & Sparkman, A.M. (2022) Rock refuges are strongly associated with increased urban occupancy in the Western Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis" Diversity 14(8): 655.
2021
Combrink, L.L., Bronikowski, A.M., Miller, D.A., & Sparkman, A.M. (2021). Current and time-lagged effects of climate on innate immunity in two sympatric snake species. Ecology and Evolution 11(7):3239-3250.
2020
Evans, K. E., Brummett, L., Combrink, L., Holden, K., Catalina, G., Farrar, S., Rodriguez, C., & Sparkman, A. M. (2020). Embryonic heart rate correlates with maternal temperature and developmental stage in viviparous snakes. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology 253:110874.
Allf, B. C., Sparkman, A. M., & Pfennig, D. W. (2020). Microevolutionary change in mimicry? Potential erosion of rattling behaviour among nonvenomous snakes on islands lacking rattlesnakes. Ethology Ecology & Evolution 1-12.
Hoekstra, L. A., Schwartz, T. S., Sparkman, A. M., Miller, D. A., & Bronikowski, A. M. (2020). The untapped potential of reptile biodiversity for understanding how and why animals age. Functional Ecology 34(1):38-54.
2019
Waits, D. S., Simpson, D. Y., Sparkman, A. M., Bronikowski, A. M., & Schwartz, T. S. (2019). The utility of reptile blood transcriptomes in molecular ecology. Molecular Ecology Resources 20(1):308-317.
2018
Sparkman A.M. (2018). Snakes. Encyclopedia of Reproduction (Second Edition), 6:666-671.
Sparkman A.M., Clark A.D., Brummett L.J., Chism K.R., Combrink L.C., Kabey, N.M., Schwartz T.S. (2018). Convergence in reduced body size, head size, and blood glucose in three island reptiles. Ecology and Evolution, 8(12):6169-6182.
Sparkman A.M., Chism K.R., Bronikowski A.M., Brummett, L.J., Combrink, L.C., Davis, C.L., Holden, K.G., Kabey, N.M., Miller, D.A.W. (2018). Use of field-portable ultrasonography reveals differences in developmental phenology and maternal egg provisioning in two sympatric viviparous snakes. Ecology and Evolution, 8(6):3330-3340.
Sparkman A.M., Howe S., Hynes S., Hobbs B., Handal K. (2018). Parallel behavioral and morphological divergence in fence lizards on two college campuses. PLoS ONE, 13(2): e0191800.
2017
Gangloff, E.J., Sparkman, A.M. and Bronikowski, A.M. (2017). Among‐individual heterogeneity in maternal behaviour and physiology affects reproductive allocation and offspring life‐history traits in the garter snake Thamnophis elegans. Oikos. 10.1111/oik.04204
Gangloff, E.J.*, Chow, M.*, Leos-Barajas, V., Hynes, S., Hobbs, B. and Sparkman, A.M. (2017). Integrating behaviour into the pace-of-life continuum: Divergent levels of activity and information gathering in fast-and slow-living snakes. Behavioural Processes, 142, 156-163.
*first two authors share first authorship
Gangloff, E. J., Sparkman, A. M., Holden, K. G., Corwin, C. J., Topf, M., & Bronikowski, A. M. (2017). Geographic variation and within-individual correlations of physiological stress markers in a widespread reptile, the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 205, 68-76.
Kauffman, K. L., Sparkman, A.M., Bronikowski, A.M., & Palacios, M.G. (2017). Vertical transmission of Hepatozoon in the garter snake Thamnophis elegans. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 53(1), 121-125.
Sparkman, A. M., Blois, M., Adams, J., Waits, L., Miller, D. A., & Murray, D. L. (2017). Evidence for sex-specific reproductive senescence in monogamous cooperatively breeding red wolves. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 71(1), 6.
2014
Sparkman, A.M., Palacios, M.G., & Bronikowski, A.M. (2014). Physiological indices of stress in wild and captive garter snakes: correlations, repeatability, and ecological variation. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 174, 11-17.
Sparkman, A.M., Billings, J.G., von Borstel, D., Bronikowski, A.M., and Arnold, S.J. (2014). Avian predation and the evolution of life histories in the garter snake Thamnophis elegans. American Midland Naturalist 170(1), 66-85.
2012
Sparkman, A. M., Adams, J. R., Steury, T. D., Waits, L. P., & Murray, D. L. (2012). Pack social dynamics and inbreeding avoidance in the cooperatively breeding red wolf. Behavioral Ecology 23(6), 1186-1194.
Sparkman, A. M., Schwartz, T. S., Madden, J. A., Boyken, S. E., Ford, N. B., Serb, J. M., & Bronikowski, A. M. (2012). Rates of molecular evolution vary in vertebrates for insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a pleiotropic locus that regulates life history traits. General and Comparative Endocrinology 178(1):164-173.
Sparkman, A.M., Adams, J., Steury, T.D., Waits, L., Murray, D.L. (2012). Evidence for a genetic basis for delayed dispersal in a cooperatively breeding canid. Animal Behavior 83(4):1081-1098.
Palacios, M.G., Sparkman, A.M., Bronikowski, A.M. (2012). Corticosterone and pace of life in two life-history ecotypes of the garter snake Thamnophis elegans. General and Comparative Endocrinology 175: 443-448.
2011
Sparkman, A.M., Waits, L.P., Murray, D.L. (2011). Social and Demographic Effects of Anthropogenic Mortality: A Test of the Compensatory Mortality Hypothesis in the Red Wolf. PLoS ONE 6(6): e20868.
Sparkman, A.M., Adams, J., Steury, T.D., Waits, L., Murray, D.L. (2011). Direct fitness benefits of delayed dispersal in the cooperatively breeding red wolf (Canis rufus). Behavioral Ecology 22(1):199-205.
Palacios, M.G., Sparkman, A.M., and Bronikowski., A.M. (2011). Developmental plasticity of immune defence in two life-history ecotypes of the garter snake Thamnophis elegans – a common-environment experiment. Journal of Animal Ecology 80(2):431-437.
Sparkman, A.M., Adams, J., Steury, T.D., Beyer, A., Waits, L., Murray, D.L. (2011). Helper effects on pup lifetime fitness in the cooperatively breeding red wolf (Canis rufus). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278(1710)L1381-1389. Featured in New Scientist, 21 October 2010, http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19604 ,Wired.com, 22 October 2010 http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/10/red-wolf-puppy-nanny.
Sparkman, A.M., Ford, N.B., Bronikowski, A.M. (2011). The Role of IGF-1 in Snake Reproduction. In: Aldridge, R.D., Sever, D.M. (Eds.), Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Snakes. Volume 9, Reproductive Biology and Phylogency Series, Jamieson, B.G.M. (Ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
2010
Byars, D.J., Ford, N.B., Sparkman, A.M., Bronikowski, A.M. (2010). Influences of diet and family on age of maturation in brown house snakes, Lamprophis fuliginosus. Herpetologica 66(4):456-463.
Sparkman, A.M., Byars, D., Ford, N.B., and Bronikowski, A.M. (2010). The role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in growth and reproduction in female brown house snakes (Lamprophis fuliginosus). General and Comparative Endocrinology 168(3):408-414.
2009
Sparkman, A.M., and Palacios, M.G. (2009). A test of life-history theories of immune defense in two ecotypes of the garter snake, Thamnophis elegans. Journal of Animal Ecology 78(6): 1242-1248.
Sparkman, A.M., Vleck, C.M., and Bronikowski, A.M. (2009). Evolutionary ecology of endocrine-mediated life-history variation in the garter snake, Thamnophis elegans. Ecology 90(3): 720-728. Featured in Faculty of 1000 Biology, 16 April 2009 (selected by Tim Coulson). http://www.f1000biology.com/article/id/1158825.
2007
Sparkman, A.M., Arnold, S.J., and Bronikowski, A.M. (2007). An empirical test of evolutionary theories for reproductive senescence and reproductive effort in the garter snake Thamnophis elegans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274(1612): 943-950.