Kenneth Y. Kaneshiro
Director,Center for Conservation Research and Training
Ph.D., University of Hawaii, 1976
CCRT Website
kykanesh@hawaii.edu
Kenneth Kaneshiro
 

Research Interests

The Hawaiian Drosophilidae has often been referred to as one of the most outstanding examples of explosive adaptive radiation and there is little reason to deny such claims. However, results from mate preference experiments suggest that adaptive shifts into novel environments may not be the primary mechanism by which speciation occur in this group. Rather, it is suggested that shifts within the sexual environment play a dominant role in the initial steps of species formation. Thus, I have focused my research on understanding the dynamics of sexual selection and the role it plays in the speciation process.

  
I have also begun to investigate the biology of small populations and the role of sexual selection in populations faced with extinction. Shifts in the distribution of mating types in the population during small population size can have a significant impact on the genetic background of the population. Also, "leakage" of genetic material from a related sympatric species may be permitted during small population conditions to replenish some of the genetic variability that may have been lost as a result of genetic drift. The results of this research will increase our understanding of the biology of rare and endangered species and provide information that may help in mitigating the extinction of some of these species.

Selected Publications

Kaneshiro, K.Y. 1997. R.C.L. Perkins' legacy to evolutionary research on Hawaiian Drosophilidae (Diptera). Pac. Sci. 51:450-461.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. 1995. Evolution, speciation, and the genetic structure of island populations. Pp. 23-34. In Islands: Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Function, P. Vitousek, H. Adsersen, and L. Loope, eds. Springer- Verlag, New York.
Kaneshiro, K. Y., R. G. Gillespie, and H. L. Carson. 1995. Chromosomes and male genitalia of Hawaiian Drosophila: Tools for interpreting phylogeny and geography. Pp. 57-71. In Hawaiian Biogeography: Evolution on a Hot Spot Archipelago, W. L. Wagner and E. Funk, eds. Smithsonian Institute Press
Kaneshiro, K. Y. 1993. Introduction, colonization, and establishment of exotic insect populations: Fruit flies in Hawaii and California. American Entomologist 39:23-29.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. 1993. Habitat-related variation and evolution by sexual selection, in Evolution of Insect Pests K.C. Kim and B.A. McPheron, eds., pp. 89-101, John Wiley Sons, Inc. Publ.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. 1990. Natural hybridization in Drosophila with special reference to species from Hawaii. Can. J. Zool. 68:1800-1805.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. and L. V. Giddings. 1987. The Significance of asymmetrical sexual isolation and the formation of new species. In Evolutionary Biology. M. K. Hecht, B. Wallace, and G. Prance, Eds. Plenum Publishing Co. Vol. 21. pp. 29-43.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. and C. R. B. Boake. 1987. Sexual selection and speciation: Issues raised by Hawaiian Drosophila. Trends in Ecol. and Evol. Biol. 2:207-212.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. 1989. The dynamics of sexual selection and founder effects in species formation. In Genetics, Speciation and the Founder Principle, L.V. Giddings, K.Y. Kaneshiro, and W.W. Anderson, Eds. Oxford Press pp. 279-296.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. 1989. Biological uniqueness of Hawaii's Biota. In Conservation Biology in Hawaii, C. P. Stone and D. B. Stone (Eds.), University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. pp. 7-10.
Kaneshiro, K. Y. 1987. The Dynamics of sexual selection and its pleiotropic effects. Behav. Genetics 17:559-569.