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 at upcoming World Orchid Congress in Dijon, France in March 2005.
Representative Publications
Whitten, W. M. 1999 Floral Fragrances, Phylogeny, and Homoplasy: Examples from Orchids. Invited Presentation. First Gordon Research Conference on the Biology, Chemistry and Evolution of Floral Scent, Oxford, UK. September 1999.
Whitten, W. M., N. H. Williams, and M. W. Chase. 2000. Subtribal and generic relationships of Maxillarieae (Orchidaceae) with emphasis on Stanhopeinae: Combined molecular evidence. American Journal of Botany. 87:1842-1856.
Zomlefer, W.B., N.H. Williams, W.M. Whitten, and W.S. Judd. 2001. Generic circumscription and relationships in the tribe Melanthieae (Liliales, Melanthiaceae), with emphasis on Zigadenus: evidence from ITS and trnL-F sequence data. American Journal of Botany 88: 1657-1669.
Williams, N.H., M. W. Chase, T. Fulcher, and W. M. Whitten. 2001. Molecular systematics of the Oncidiinae based on evidence from four DNA sequence regions: expanded circumscriptions of Cyrtochilum, Erycina, Otoglossum, and Trichocentrum and a new genus (Orchidaceae). Lindleyana 16: 113-139.
Williams, N.H., M. W. Chase, and W. M. Whitten. 2001. Phylogenetic position of Miltoniopsis, Caucaea, a new genus, Cyrtochiloides, and relationship of Oncidium phymatochilum based on nuclear and chloroplast dna sequence data (Orchidaceae: Oncidiinae). Lindleyana 16: 95-114.
Sosa, Victoria, Mark W. Chase, Gerardo Salazar, W. Mark Whitten, and Norris H. Williams. 2001. Phylogenetic position of Dignathe (Orchidaceae: Oncidiinae): evidence from nuclear ITS ribosomal DNA sequences. Lindleyana 16(2): 94-101.
Koehler, S., N.H. Williams, W.M. Whitten, and M.E. do Amaral. 2002. Phylogeny of the Bifrenaria Lindl. (Orchidaceae) complex based on morphology and sequence data from nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and chloroplast trnL-F region. International J. Plant Sciences 163(6):1055-1066.
Zomlefer, W.B., N.H. Williams, W.M. Whitten, and W.S. Judd. 2003. An overview of Veratrum s.l. (Liliales: Melanthiaceae) and an infrageneric phylogeny based on ITS sequence data. Systematic Botany:28:250-269.
Carlsward, B., M.W. Whitten, and N.H. Williams. Molecular phylogenetics of Neotropical leafless Angraecinae (Orchidaceae): Reevaluation of generic concepts. International J. Plant Sciences 164 (1): 43-51.
Goldman, D.H., J.V. Freudenstein, P.J. Kores, M. Molvray, D.C. Jarrell, W. M. Whitten, K.M. Cameron, R.K. Jansen, and M.W. Chase. 2001. Phylogenetics of Arethuseae (Orchidaceae) based on plastid matK and rbcL sequences. Systematic Botany 26(3):670-695.
Eltz, T., D.W. Roubik, and M.W. Whitten. 2003. Fragrances, male display and mating behaviour of Euglossa hemichlora: a flight cage experiment. Physiological Entomology 28:251-260.
Higgins, W.E., C. van den Berg, and W.M. Whitten. 2003. A combined molecular phylogeny of Encyclia (Orchidaceae) and relationships within Laeliinae. Selbyana 24:165-179.
Dressler, R.L., W.M. Whitten, and N.H. Williams. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships of Scaphyglottis and related genera (Laeliinae: Orchidaceae) based on nrDNA ITS sequence data. Brittonia 56:58-66..