Nico M. Franz
Assistant Professor (2006-)
Director of the UPRM Invertebrate Collection (2008-)
| Curator of Entomology, UPRM (2006-2008) |
| Postdoctoral Fellow, NCEAS - UC Santa Barbara (2004-2005) |
| Ph.D. in Entomology, Cornell University (2005) |
| M.Sc. in Biology, University of Costa Rica (1999) |
| Prediploma in Biology, University of Hamburg (1996) |
Synopsis - I am an entomologist specializing in the systematics and host plant evolution of weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea). I have been a faculty member of the Department of Biology at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez since January 2006. My bilingual lab is presently involved in a revisionary systematic project of Exophthalmus and related entimine weevil genera. Additional projects focus on the beetles and insects of Puerto Rico, including curation and expansion of the UPRM insect collection.
For two years from 2004-05 I was a postdoctoral researcher at NCEAS and involved in the SEEK ecoinformatics project. I participated in a team of taxonomists, ecologists, and computer scientists working on new solutions to the problem of managing the temporal dynamics of taxonomy and nomenclature on-line. I continue to collaborate on these projects in my current position.
Prior to that I was a doctoral student in the Entomology Department at Cornell University. My research addressed the systematics of derelomine flower weevils, including analyses of morphological, ecological, behavioral, and molecular character systems (COI & 28S). Finding ways to translate the available natural history information into hypotheses of homology was an important part of the project. I was also interested in understanding how our descriptive language in systematics is affected by current conceptions of homology, and by inference standards such as parsimony.
Since 2002 I have served as editor of CURCULIO – an International Newsletter for Curculionoidea Research.
Representative Publications (complete list)
Franz, N. M. & R. K. Peet. 2008. Towards a language for mapping relationships among taxonomic concepts. Systematics and Biodiversity. (in press)
Franz, N. M. 2008. Revision, phylogeny, and natural history of Cotithene Voss (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Zootaxa 1782: 1-33.
Franz, N. M., R. K. Peet & A. S. Weakley. 2008. On the use of taxonomic concepts in support of biodiversity research and taxonomy; pp. 63-86. In Wheeler, Q.D. (Ed.): The New Taxonomy, Systematics Association Special Volume Series 74. Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL
Franz, N. M. 2007. Reproductive trade-offs in a specialized plant/pollinator system involving Asplundia uncinata Harling (Cyclanthaceae) and a derelomine flower weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 269: 183-201.
Franz, N. M. 2006. Towards a phylogenetic system of derelomine flower weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Systematic Entomology 31: 220-287.
Franz, N. M. 2005. On the lack of good scientific reasons for the growing phylogeny/classification gap. Cladistics 21: 495-500.
Franz, N. M. 2005. Outline of an explanatory account of cladistic practice. Biology & Philosophy 20: 489-515.
Franz, N. M. & R. M. Valente. 2005. Evolutionary trends in derelomine flower weevils: from associations to homology. Invertebrate Systematics 19: 499-530.