Staff Spotlight
Dr. W. Mark Whitten
Senior Biological Scientist
385G Dickinson Hall
Museum Road & Newell Drive
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-1986
Email: whitten@flmnh.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Botany, University of Florida, 1985
Research Interests
Plant systematics, especially Orchidaceae (Neotropics); chemical ecology of floral fragrances, especially relationships between orchids and euglossine bees. Current project: Molecular systematics of Maxillarieae (Orchidaceae).
Field Work
Collecting trips to Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador (Peru & Bolivia soon?) to study the orchid subtribe Maxillariinae.
Outreach
Invited speaker, 19th World Orchid Conference, Miami, 2008.
Representative Publications
W. M. Whitten, M. A. Blanco, N.H. Williams, S. Koehler, G. Carnevali, R. B. Singer, L. Endara, and K. Neubig. 2007. Molecular phylogenetics of Maxillaria and related genera (Orchidaceae: Cymbidieae) based upon combined molecular data sets. American Journal of Botany. 94(11): 1860-1889.
Blanco, M.A., G. Carnevali, W. Mark Whitten, R.B. Singer, S. Koehler, N. H. Williams, I. Ojeda, K. M. Neubig, and L. Endara. 2007. Generic realignments In Maxillariinae (Orchidaceae). Lankesteriana 7(3): 515-537.
Koehler, S., Cabral, J. S., Whitten, W. M., Williams, N. H., Singer, R. B., Neubig, K. M., Guerra, M., Souza, A. P. & Amaral, M. 2008. Molecular phylogeny of the neotropical genus Christensonella (Orchidaceae, Maxillariinae): Species delimitation and insights into chromosome evolution. Annals of Botany, 102, 491-507.
Neubig, K.M, W.M.Whitten, B.S. Carlsward, M. A. Blanco, L. Endara, N.H. Williams, and M. Moore. 2009. Phylogenetic utility of ycf1 in orchids: a plastid gene more variable than matK. Plant Syst. Evol. 277:75-84.
Chase, M.W., N. H. Williams, K.M. Neubig, W. M. Whitten. 2008. Taxonomic transfers in Oncidiinae to accord with Genera Orchidacearum, vol. 5. Lindleyana 21: 20-31.
Chase, M. W., Williams, N. H., de Faria, A. D., Neubig, K. M., Amaral, M. d. C. E. & Whitten, W. M. 2009. Floral convergence in Oncidiinae (Cymbidieae; Orchidaceae): an expanded concept of Gomesa and a new genus Nohawilliamsia. Annals of Botany 104: 387-402.
van den Berg, C., Higgins, W. E., Dressler, R. L., Whitten, W. M., Soto-Arenas, M. A. & Chase, M. W. 2009. A phylogenetic study of Laeliinae (Orchidaceae) based on combined nuclear and plastid DNA sequences. Annals of Botany 104: 417-430.
Neubig, K.M., N.H. Williams, W. M. Whitten, and F. Pupulin. 2008. Molecular phylogenetics of Dichaea (Orchidaceae: Zygopetalinae) and the evolution of fruit and leaf morphology. Annals of Botany 104: 457-467.
Whitten, W.M. and M.A. Blanco. Tribe Maxillarieae in Genera Orchidacearum Volume 5. Alec M. Pridgeon, Phillip J. Cribb, Mark W. Chase, and Finn N. Rasmussen, editors. ca. 50 pp. In press, late 2009. [Also contributed molecular phylogenies for subtribes Stanhopeinae and Oncidiinae]