Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of Robert Owen and FAUNA Paraguay.
Pdfs provided for personal use and research purposes.
·Dr Robert Owen - Adjunct Professor of Biology at Texas Tech University (USA), he works and lives in Asunción, Paraguay and is married to WWF directora Lucy Aquino.  Robert first came to Paraguay in the mid 1990s with no intentions of staying longer than his research required, but found the culture, country and wildlife so fascinating that it wasn´t long before he was back for good.

His primary interests are in the ecology and natural history of Neotropical small mammals (bats, marsupials, and rodents), and his research over the past 35 years has included field work in the United States, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Dominica, Mexico, and Paraguay.  He is currently involved in research on the ecology of Paraguayan bats and rodents, and the diseases which they carry and may transmit to humans, particularly as a result of habitat degradation. Robert leads the Just Mammals tours out of Asunción. He speaks English and Spanish.
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PARTIAL CURRICULUM VITAE

PERSONAL:


Born:  Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A., October 16, 1948

EDUCATION:

University of Oklahoma, B.S., 1976 (Zoology)
University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1987 (Zoology)
Major advisor:  Dr. Gary D. Schnell
Dissertation title:  Multivariate morphometric analyses of the bat subfamily Stenodermatinae (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Investigador Activo Nivel III, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Paraguay), 2011-present
Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, 2006-present
Affiliate Research Associate, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2004-
present
Associate Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, 1997-2006
Fulbright Senior Fellow, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay, 2001
Fulbright Fellow, Universidad Nacional de Asunción and Museo Nacional de Historia
Natural del Paraguay, 1997
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, 1991-97
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1989-91
Museum Collections Manager, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 1983-89
Environmental Consultant (vertebrate studies for Environmental Impact Statements), 1978-82
Environmental Zoologist, Techrad Inc., Oklahoma City, 1975-76

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Mammalian systematics, zoogeography, and evolution, with emphasis on Neotropical fauna
Multivariate statistical methods in systematics and evolution
Philosophy and methodology in vertebrate phylogenetics
Morphological correlates of genetic phenomena in mammals
Bioindicators of environmental disruption and contamination
Ecology of mammalian and vector-borne diseases

MANUSCRIPTS REVIEWED FOR:


Journal of Mammalogy
Mammalian Species
Southwestern Naturalist
Texas Journal of Science
Occasional Papers of the Museum, Texas Tech University
Special Publications of the Museum, Texas Tech University
Transvaal Museum Special Publications
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
Publicaciones Especiales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington
Acta Theriologica
Systematic Biology
10th International Bear Association Conference Proceedings
Acta Chiropterologica
Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment
CheckList
Therya

EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE:

Systematic Biology (Editorial Board, 1992-95)
Acta Chiropterologica (Editorial Board, 1999-2014)
Reportes Científicos de la FACEN (Editorial Committee, 2011-present)


PUBLICATIONS:

Owen, R.D., and B.E. Leuck.  1978.  Verdin nest in Harmon County, Oklahoma.  Bull. Okla. Ornithol. Soc., 11:23-24.

Schnell, G.D., R.D. Owen, R.K. Chesser, and P.G. Risser.  1980.  Small mammal populations in North Central Oklahoma.  Southwest. Nat., 25:67-80.

Owen, R.D.  1982.  Cricetidae (portions).  In Mammal Species of the World.  Association of Systematics Collections and Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas

Owen, R.D., and W.D. Webster.  1983.  Morphological variation in the Ipanema bat, Pygoderma bilabiatum, with description of a new subspecies.  J. Mammal., 64:146-149.

Webster, W.D., and R.D. Owen.  1984.  Pygoderma bilabiatum.  Mammal. Species, 220:1-3.

Baker, R.J., J.A. Groen, and R.D. Owen.  1984.  Field key to Antillean bats.  Occas. Pap. Mus., Texas Tech Univ., 94:1-18.

Jones, J.K., Jr., D.L. Flores, and R.D. Owen.  1986.  The taxonomic and nomenclatorial status of Mus ludovicianus Custis, 1807.  Southwest. Nat., 31:106-107.

Willig, M.R., R.D. Owen, and R.L. Colbert.  1986.  Assessment of morphometric variation in natural populations: the inadequacy of the univariate approach.  Syst. Zool., 35:195-203.

Owen, R.D., and M.J. Hamilton.  1986.  Second record of Cryptotis parva (Soricidae) in New Mexico, with review of its status on the Llano Estacado.  Southwest. Nat., 31:403-405.

Jones, J.K., Jr., and R.D. Owen.  1986.  Checklist and bibliography of Nicaraguan bats.  Occas. Pap. Mus., Texas Tech Univ., 106:1-13

Willig, M.R., and R.D. Owen.  1987.  Fluctuating asymmetry in the cheetah: methodological and interpretive concerns.  Evolution, 41:225-227.

Owen, R.D.  1987.  Phylogenetic analyses of the bat subfamily Stenodermatinae (Mammalia: Chiroptera).  Spec. Publ. Mus., Texas Tech Univ., 26:1-65

McCullough, D.A., R.K. Chesser, and R.D. Owen.  1987.  Immunological systematics of prairie dogs.  J. Mammal., 68:561-568.

Chesser, R.K., and R.D. Owen.  1987.  Computerized information consortium.  Pp. 145-154, In Mammal Collection Management (H.H. Genoways, C. Jones, and O. Rossolimo, eds.).  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock

Jones, E.M., and R.D. Owen.  1987.  Fluid preservation of mammalian specimens.  Pp. 51-63, In Mammal Collection Management (H.H. Genoways, C. Jones, and O. Rossolimo, eds.).  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock

Owen, R.D., and M.B. Qumsiyeh.  1987.  The subspecies problem in the trident leaf- nosed bat, Asellia tridens:  homomorphism in widely separated populations.  Z. Saugetierk., 52:329-337

Willig, M.R., and R.D. Owen.  1987.  Univariate analyses of morphometric variation do not emulate the results of multivariate analyses.  Syst. Zool., 36:398-400.

Jones, J.K., Jr., J. Arroyo-Cabrales, and R.D. Owen.  1988.  Revised checklist of bats (Chiroptera) of Mexico and Central America.  Occas. Pap. Mus., Texas Tech Univ., 120:1-34.

Qumsiyeh, M.B., R.D. Owen, and R.K. Chesser.  1988.  Differential rates of genic and chromosomal evolution in bats of the family Rhinolophidae.  Genome, 30:326-335.

Owen, R.D.  1988.  Phenetic analyses of the bat subfamily Stenodermatinae (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae).  J. Mammal., 69:795-810.

Owen, R.D., and G.D. Schnell.  1989.  Oklahoma Mammalogy: an Annotated Bibliography and Checklist.  Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 230 pp.

Densmore, L.D., III, and R.D. Owen.  1989.  Molecular systematics of the Order Crocodilia.  Amer. Zool., 29:831-841.

Bradley, R.D., D.J. Schmidly, and R.D. Owen.  1989.  Variation in glans penes and bacula among Latin American populations of the Peromyscus boylii species  complex.  J. Mammal., 70:712-725.

Owen, R.D., R.K. Chesser, and D.C. Carter.  1990.  The systematic status of Tadarida brasiliensis cynocephala and Antillean members of the Tadarida brasiliensis group, with comments on the generic name Rhizomops Legendre.  Occas. Pap. Mus., Texas Tech Univ., 133:1-18.

Bradley, R.D., D.J. Schmidly, and R.D. Owen.  1990.  Variation in the glans penes and bacula among Latin American populations of Peromyscus aztecus.  Occas. Pap. Mus., Texas Tech Univ., 135:1-15

Owen, R.D.  1990.  Data base computerization and consortium development--a collection management perspective.  Pp. 105-116, in Natural History Collections: Their Management and Value (E.M. Herholdt, ed.).  Transvaal Mus. Spec. Publ., 1:x + 1-172.

Owen, R.D., and K. McBee.  1990.  Analysis of asymmetry and morphometric variation in mice from a petrochemical waste disposal site.  Texas J. Sci., 42:319-332

Stangl, F.B., Jr., R.D. Owen, and D.E. Morris-Fuller.  1991.  Cranial variation and asymmetry in southern populations of Erethizon dorsatum (Rodentia: Erethizontidae).  Texas J. Sci., 43:237-259

Owen, R.D.  1991.  The systematic status of Dermanura concolor (Peters, 1865) (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), with description of a new genus.  In Contributions to Mammalogy in Honor of Karl F. Koopman (T.A. Griffiths and D. Klingener, eds.).  Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 206:18-25.

Bogdanowicz, W., and R.D. Owen.  1992.  Phylogenetic analyses of the bat family Rhinolophidae.  Z. zool. Syst. Evolut.-forsch., 30:142-160

Acosta, C., and R.D. Owen.  1993.  Koopmania concolor.  Mammal. Species., 429:1-3.

López-Wilchis, R., G. López-Ortega, and R.D. Owen.  1994.  Noteworthy record of the western small-footed myotis (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Myotis ciliolabrum)  Southwest. Nat., 39:211-212.

Owen, R.D.  1996.  Algunas técnicas morfométricas en sistemática de murciélagos. Universidad Ciencia y Tecnología, 3(2):1-14

Bradley, R.D., R.D. Owen, and D.J. Schmidly.  1996.  Morphological variation in Peromyscus spicilegus.  Occas. Pap. Mus., Texas Tech Univ., 159:1-23

Arroyo-Cabrales, J., and R.D. Owen.  1996.  Intraspecific variation and phenetic affinities of Dermanura hartii, with reapplication of the specific name Enchisthenes hartii.  Pp. 67-81, in Contributions in Mammalogy: A Memorial Volume Honoring Dr. J. Knox Jones, Jr.  (H.H. Genoways and R.J. Baker, eds.). Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock

Bogdanowicz, W., and R.D. Owen.  1996.  Landmark-based size and shape analysis in systematics of the plecotine bats.  Pp. 489-501, in Advances in Morphometrics (L.F. Marcus, M. Corti, A. Loy, G.J.P. Naylor, and D.E. Slice, eds.).  Plenum Press, New York

Arroyo-Cabrales, J., and R.D. Owen.  1997.  Enchisthenes hartii.  Mammal. Spec., 546:1-4.

Bogdanowicz, W., S. Kasper, and R.D. Owen.  1998.  Phylogeny of the plecotine bats: reevaluation of morphological and chromosomal data.  J. Mammal., 79:78-90.

Bogdanowicz, W., and R.D. Owen.  1998.  In the Minotaur's labyrinth: the phylogeney of the bat family Hipposideridae.  Pp. 27-42, In Bats: phylogeny, morphology, echolocation, and conservation biology (T.H. Kunz and P.A. Racey, eds.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington

López-González, C., S.J. Presley, R.D. Owen, M.R. Willig, and I. Gamarra de Fox.  1998. Noteworthy records of  bats from Paraguay.  Mastozool. Neotrop., 5:41-45.

Sánchez-Hernández, C., M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, R.D. Owen, A.Núñez-Garduño, and R.López-Wilchis.  1999.  Noteworthy records of mammals from Michoacán, México.  Southwestern Naturalist, 44:231-235.

Sheeler-Gordon, L., and R.D. Owen.  1999.  Host tracking or resource tracking?  The  case of Periglischrus wing mites (Acarina: Spinturnicidae) of leaf-nosed bats  (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Michoacan, Mexico.  Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n.s.), 76:85-102.

Willig, M.R., S.J. Presley, R.D. Owen, and C. López-González.  2000.  Composition  and structure of bat assemblages in Paraguay: a subtropical - temperate interface. Journal of Mammalogy, 81:386-401.

Romero-Almaraz, M. de L., C. Sánchez-Hernández, C. Garcia-Estrada, and R.D. Owen.   2000.  Pequeños Mamíferos, un Manual de las Técnicas de Captura, Preparación, Preservación y Estudio.  Facultad de Ciencias and Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, México, and Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca.  xii +

Gettinger, D., and R.D. Owen.  2000.  Androlaelaps rotundus Fonseca (Acari: Laelapidae) associated with akodontine rodents in Paraguay: a morphometric examination of a pleioxenous ectoparasite.  Revista Brasileira de Biología, 20:425-434.

Owen, R.D.  2000.  La importancia de los inventarios cuantitativos en la conservación de la fauna silvestre. Pp. 15-28, in Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en Amazonia y Latinoamerica (E. Cabrera, C. Mercolli, and R. Resquín, eds.).  Fundación Moises Bertoni, Asunción, Paraguay.

López-González, C., S.J. Presley, R.D. Owen, and M.R. Willig.  2001.  Taxonomic status of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Paraguay.  Journal of  Mammalogy, 82:138-160.

Sánchez-Hernández, C., M. de L. Romero-Amaraz, G.D. Schnell, M.L. Kennedy, T.L. Best, R.D. Owen, and C. López-González.  2002.  Bats of Colima: new records, geographic distribution, and reproductive condition.  Occasional Papers of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 12:1-23.

Strauss, R.E., R.D. Bradley, and R.D. Owen.  2002.  Effects of small sample sizes on the asymmetry and reliability of dendrograms.  Occasional Papers of The Museum, Texas Tech University, 214:1-11.

Amman, B.R., and R.D. Owen.  2002.  Utility of hair structure for taxonomic discrimination in bats, with an example from the bats of Colorado, U.S.A.  Occasional Papers of The Museum, Texas Tech University, 216:1-14.

Wang, H.G., R.D. Owen, C. Sánchez-Hernández, and M. de L. Romero-Almaraz.  2003.  Ecological characterization of bat species distributions in Michoacán, México, using a geographic information system.  Global Ecology and Biogeography, 12:65-85.

Chu, Y-K., R.D. Owen, L. González, and C.B. Jonsson.  2003.  The complex ecology of hantavirus in Paraguay.  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 69:263-268.

Bogdanowicz, W., J. Juste B., R.D. Owen, and A. Sztencel.  2005.  Geometric morphometrics and cladistics: testing evolutionary relationships in mega- and microbats.  Acta Chiropterologica, 7:30-49

McIntyre, N., Y-K. Chu, R.D. Owen, A. Abuzeineh, N. De la Sancha, C. Dick, T. Holsomback, R. Nisbett, and C. Jonsson.  2005.  A longitudinal study of Bayou virus, hosts, and habitat.  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 73:1043-1049.

Goodin, D.G., D. E. Koch, R.D. Owen, Y-K. Chu, J.M.S. Hutchinson, and C.B. Jonsson.2006.  Land Cover Associated With Hantavirus Presence in Paraguay. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 15:519-527.

Chu, Y-K., B. Milligan, R.D. Owen, D. G. Goodin, and C.B. Jonsson.  2006. Phylogenetic and geographical relationships of hantavirus strains in eastern and western Paraguay.  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 75:1127-1134.

Abuzeineh, A.A., R.D. Owen, N. E. McIntyre, C.W. Dick, R. E. Strauss, and T. Holsomback.  2007. Response of the Marsh Rice Rat (Oryzomys palustris) to inundation of habitat.  Southwestern Naturalist, 52:75-78.

Romero-Almaraz, M. de L., C. Sánchez-Hernández, C. Garcia-Estrada, and R.D. Owen.   2007.  Pequeños Mamíferos, un Manual de Técnicas de Captura, Preparación, Preservación y Estudio.  2nd ed.  Facultad de Ciencias e Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, México.

De la Sancha, N., S. Solari, and R.D. Owen.  2007.  First records of Monodelphis kunsi Pine (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) from Paraguay, with an evaluation of its distribution.  Mastozoología Neotropical, 14:241-247.

Chu, Y-K., R.D. Owen, C. Sánchez-Hernández, Ma. de L. Romero-Almaraz, and C.B. Jonsson.  2008.  Genetic characterization and phylogeny of a hantavirus from Western Mexico.  Virus Research, 131:180-188.
 
Schnell, G.D., M.L. Kennedy, C. Sánchez-Hernández, Ma. de L. Romero-Almaraz, B.D.N. Estevez, J. A. Guerrero, T.L. Best, M.L. Wooten, and R.D. Owen.  2008.Conservation status, demographic features, and habitat preference of the endemic Tawny Deer Mouse (Peromyscus perfulvus).  Southwestern Naturalist, 53:9-20.

D’Elía, G., I. Mora, P. Myers, and R.D. Owen.  2008.  New and noteworthy records of Rodentia (Erethizontidae, Sciuridae, and Cricetidae) from Paraguay.  Zootaxa, 1784:39-57.

Goodin, D.G., R. Paige, R.D. Owen, K. Ghimire, D.E. Koch, Y-K. Chu, and C.B. Jonsson.  2009. Microhabitat characteristics of Akodon montensis, a vector for hantavirus, and hantaviral seroprevalence in an Atlantic Forest site, in eastern Paraguay.  Journal of Vector Ecology, 34:104-113.

McIntyre, N.E., R.A. Nisbett, A. Abuzeineh, T. Holsomback, Y-K. Chu, J.A. Carmichael, N. de la Sancha, C.W. Dick, C.B. Jonsson, and R.D. Owen.  2009.  Ecological correlates of serological status for Bayou virus in Oryzomys palustris.Mastozoología Neotropical, 16:83-93.

Wesley, C.L., L.J.S. Allen, C.B. Jonsson, Y-K. Chu, and R.D. Owen.  2009.  A discrete-time rodent-hantavirus model structured by infection and developmental stages. Advanced Studies in Pure Mathematics, 53:387-398.
           
Chu, Y-K., D. Goodin, R.D. Owen, and C.B. Jonsson.  2009.  Sympatry of two hantaviral strains in the Interior Atlantic Forest of Paraguay.  Emerging Infectious Diseases, 15:1977-1980.
           
Allen, L.J.S., C.L. Wesley, R.D. Owen, D.G. Goodin, D. Koch, C.B. Jonsson, Y-K. Chu, J.M.S. Hutchinson, and R.L. Paige.  2009.  A habitat-based model for the spread of hantavirus between reservoir and spillover species.  Journal of Theoretical Biology, 260:510-522.
           
Owen, R.D., D.G. Goodin, D.E. Koch, Y-K. Chu, and C.B. Jonsson.  2010. Spatiotemporal variation in Akodon montensis (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) populations and hantaviral seroprevalence in a subtropical forest ecosystem. Journal of Mammalogy, 91:467-481.
           
Schnell, G.D., M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, S.T. Martínez-Chapital, C. Sánchez-Hernández, M.L. Kennedy, T.L. Best, M.C. Wooten, and R.D. Owen.  2010. Habitat use and demographic characteristics of the West Mexican Cotton Rat (Sigmodon mascotensis).  Mammalia, 74:379-393.

Abuzeineh, A. A., N. E. McIntyre, T. S. Holsomback, C. W. Dick, and R. D. Owen.  2011.  Extreme population fluctuation in the Northern Pygmy Mouse (Baiomys taylori) in southeastern Texas.  Therya, 2:137-145.

Gettinger, D., C. W. Dick, and R. D. Owen.  2011.  Host Associations between Laelapine Mites (Parasitiformes: Laelapidae) and Palustrine Rodents in Paraguay:  A Study of Host Specificity and Cryptic Species.  Systematic and Applied Acarology, 16:145-149.

Chu, Y-K., R. D. Owen, and C. B. Jonsson. 2011.  Phylogenetic exploration of hantaviruses in Paraguay reveals reassortment and host switching in South America.  Virology Journal, 8:399.

Poindexter, C. J., G. D. Schnell, C. Sánchez-Hernández, M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, M. L. Kennedy, T. L. Best, M. C. Wooten, and R. D. Owen.  2012.  Co-occurence of small mammals in a tropical dry deciduous forest: comparisons of communities and individual species.  Journal of Tropical Ecology, 28:65-72.

Smith, P., R. D. Owen, K. Atkinson, H. del Castillo, and E. Northcote-Smith.  2012. First records of the Southern Naked-tailed Armadillo Cabassous unicinctus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Cingulata: Dasypodidae) in Paraguay.  Edentata, 12:53-57.

Palma, R. E., J. J. Polop, R. D. Owen, and J. N. Mills.  2012.  Ecology of rodent-associated hantaviruses in the southern cone of South America: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.  Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 48:267-281.

Poindexter, C. J., G. D. Schnell, C. Sánchez-Hernández, M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, M.L. Kennedy, T. L. Best, M. C. Wooten, and R. D. Owen.  2012.  Variation in habitat use of coexisting rodent species in a tropical dry deciduous forest. Mammalian Biology, 77:249-257.