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Contact
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8303
Phone: (818) 677-3356
Fax: (818) 677-2034
Email:biology.dept@csun.edu
Office Location:
Eucalyptus Hall 2102
Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8:00am-5:00pm
Fritz Hertel
Associate Professor
Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles
email: fritz.hertel@csun.edu
Phone: (818) 677-3353
Fax: (818) 677-2034
Office: Live Oak Hall 1318
Most of my research concerns the functional morphology of birds and mammals and its relationship to ecological segregation among species. I am also interested in macroevolutionary questions such as how morphological and functional diversity compares among recent and fossil communities (e.g., vultures, raptors, antelopes).
Current Research Projects:
Ecomorphological diversity of feeding, flying, and killing behavior among birds of prey
Wing diversity as related to foraging strategies among pelagic seabirds
Conservation and ecology of birds from Chilean islands
Form and function of the hindlimb of birds - the antitrochanter and automated balance system
Ecomorphology of African antelopes as related to habitat preferences
Ecomorphology of caracaras and the evolution of large scavenging birds
Representative Publications:
Hertel, F. and K. E. Campbell (2007). The antitrochanter of birds: form and function in balance. Auk 124(3): 789-805.
Brewer, M. and F. Hertel (2007). Wing shape and flight behavior of pelecaniform seabirds. Journal of Morphology 268: 866-877.
Maldonado, J. E., F. Hertel, and C. Vilà (2004). Discordant patterns of morphological variation in genetically divergent populations of ornate shrews (Sorex ornatus). Journal of Mammalogy 85(5):886-896.
Schultz, J. D., F. Hertel, M. Bauch, and B. A. Schlinger (2001). Adaptations for rapid and forceful contraction in wing muscles of the male golden-collared manakin: sex and species comparisons. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 187 ( 9): 677-684.
Hertel, F. and L. T. Ballance (1999). Wing ecomorphology of seabirds from Johnston Atoll. Condor 101(3): 549-556.
Hertel, F. and N. Lehman (1998). A randomized nearest neighbor approach for assessment of character displacement: the vulture guild as a model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 190: 51-61.
Roy, M. S., J. C. Torres-Mura, and F. Hertel (1998). Evolution and history of hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae) from the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile. Ibis 140(2): 265-273.
Hertel, F. (1995). Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behavior in Recent and fossil raptors. Auk 112(4): 890-903.
Hertel, F. (1994). Diversity in body size and feeding morphology within past and present vulture assemblages. Ecology 75(4): 1074-1084.
Van Valkenburgh, B.and F. Hertel (1993). Tough times at La Brea: Tooth breakage in large carnivores of the Late Pleistocene. Science 261: 456-460.
Graduate Students:
Current:
Jessica Dooley - Bald Eagles on the California Channel Islands
Greg Avellis - TBA
Former:
Michael Brewer - Wing shape and flight behavior in pelecaniform seabirds
Diego Sustaita - Musculoskeletal underpinnings to differences in killing behavior between North American accipiters and falcons