I am a PhD candidate interested in the biogeographic patterns, and the processes driving the evolution, of morphological and life history trait variation of reptiles in general and insular reptiles specifically. I am also fascinated by the implications of the insular environment on the ecology of insular fauna. In my M.Sc. research (supervised by Prof. Shai Meiri from Tel-Aviv University and Prof. Pasquale Raia from University of Naples Federico II), I focused on identifying global patterns of turtle distribution, body size and life history traits, using macroecological tools. For my Ph.D. research (supervised by Prof. Shai Meiri and Prof. Panayiotis Pafilis from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) I took a large comparative field project on the Aegean Islands, Greece. Combining field data and observation from more than 60 islands and data I collected in several zoological museum collections (Munich, Bonn, Crete, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv) and the primary literature, I study how island characteristics affect the evolution of morphological, physiological and ecological trait variation across the insular reptile fauna. For more information please go to my ResearchGate profile (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yuval_Itescu3) or Google Scholar profile (https://scholar.google.co.il/citations?user=djCQjvcAAAAJ&hl=iw) .
As of October 2016, I presented my work in six national-level scientific meetings and seven international-level scientific meetings. I won several travel grants and excellence prizes. I also guided 15 undergraduate students in their final scientific projects and served as a teaching assistant in courses at my faculty: "Vertebrates: comparative anatomy and functional morphology" and "Biogeography".
Publications:
Peer-reviewed publications:
Itescu, Y., Schwarz, R., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. Intra-specific competition, not predation, drives tail loss in insular lizards. Journal of Animal Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.
Slavenko, A., Tallowin, O., Itescu, Y., Raia, P., and Meiri, S. 2016. Late Quaternary reptile extinctions: size matters, insularity dominates. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25: 1308-1320.
Lewin, A., Feldman, A., Bauer, A.B., Belmaker, J., Broadley, D.G., Chirio, L., Itescu, Y., LeBerton, M., Maza, E., Meirte, D., Nagy, Z.T., Novosolov, M., Roll, U., Tallowin, O., Trape, J.F., Vidan, E., and Meiri, S. Patterns of species richness, endemism and environmental gradients of African reptiles. Journal of Biogeography. doi: 10.1111/jbi.12848.
Sabath, N., Itescu, Y., Feldman, A., Meiri, S., Mayrose, I., and Valenzuela, N. 2016. Sex Determination, longevity and the birth and death of reptile species. Ecology and Evolution 6: 5207-5220.
Roll, U., Mittermeier, J.C., Diaz, G.I., Novosolov, M., Feldman, A., Itescu, Y., Meiri, S., and Grenyer, R. 2016. Using Wikipedia page views to explore the cultural importance of global reptiles. Biological Conservation. In press.
Itescu, Y., Jamison, S., Slavenko, A., Tamar, K., Roussos, S.A., Foufopoulos, J., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. The Herpetofauna of Folegandros Island (Cyclades, Greece), Greece. Herpetozoa. In press.
Itescu, Y., Schwarz, R., Moses, M., Pafilis, P. and Meiri, S. 2016. Record sizes for the Turkish house gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, from Aegean islands, Greece. Herpetological Bulletin. In press.
Schwarz, R., Gavriilidi, I-A., Itescu, Y., Jamison, S., Sagonas, K., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. Mediodactylus kotschyi in the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece: distribution and habitat. Acta Herpetologica. In press.
Slavenko, A., Itescu, Y., Ihlow, F., and Meiri, S. 2016. Home is where the shell is: predicting turtle home range sizes. Journal of Animal Ecology 85: 106-114.
Itescu, Y., Slavenko, A., Schwarz, R., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. A new record of Chalcides ocellatus (Forskål, 1775) from Kythnos Island, Greece. Herpetozoa 29: 98-100.
Newbold, T., Hudson, L. N., Hill, S. L. L., Contu, S., Lysenko, I., Senior, R. A., Börger, L., Bennett, D., Choimes, A., Collen, B., Day, J., De Palma, A., Díaz, S., Echeverria-Londoño, S., Edgar, M., Feldman, A., Garon, M., Harrison, M. L. K., Ingram, D. J., Itescu, Y., Kattge, J., Kemp, V., Kirkpatrick, L., Kleyer, M., Laginha Pinto Correia, D., Martin, C., Meiri, S., Novosolov, M., Pan, Y., Phillips, H. R. P., Purves, D. W., Robinson, A., Simpson, J., Tuck, S., Weiher, E., White, H. J., Ewers, R. M., Mace, G. M., Scharlemann, J. P. W., and Purvis, A. 2015. Global land-use impacts on local terrestrial biodiversity. Nature 520: 45-50.
Raia, P., Passaro, F., Carotenuto, F., Maiorino, L., Piras, P., Teresi, L., Meiri, S., Itescu, Y., Novosolov, M., Baiano, M. A., Martinez, R. and Fortelius, M. 2015. Cope's rule and the universal scaling law of ornament complexity. The American Naturalist 186: 165-175.
Slavenko, A., Itescu, Y., Foufopoulos, J., Pafilis, P., and Meiri, S. 2015. Clutch size variability in an ostensibly fix-clutched lizard: effects of insularity on a Mediterranean gecko. Evolutionary Biology 42: 129-136.
Meiri, S., Kadison, A., Novosolov, M., Pafilis, P., Foufopoulos, J., Itescu, Y., Raia, P., and Pincheira-Donoso, D. 2014. The number of competitor species is unlinked to sexual dimorphism. Journal of Animal Ecology 83: 1302-1312.
Itescu, Y., Karraker, N. E., Raia, P., Pritchard, P. C. H., and Meiri, S. 2014. Is the Island rule general? Turtles disagree. Global Ecology and Biogeography 23: 689-700.
Non-peer-reviewed publications:
Itescu, Y., Savyon, G., and Slavenko, A. 2015. Eryx jaculus (Sand Boa). Albinism. Herpetological review 46: 103-104.
Submitted manuscripts:
Roll, U., Feldman, A., Novosolov, M., Allison, A., Bauer, A., Bernard, R., Bohm, M., Chirio, L., Collen, B., Colli, G.R., Dabul, L., Das, I., Doan, T., Grismer, L., Herrera, F.C., Hoogmoed, M., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton, M., Lewin, A., Martins, M., Maza, E., Meirte, D., Nagy, Z., Nogueira, C.C., Pauwels, O.S.G., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Powney, G., Sindaco, R., Tallowin, O., Torres-Carvajal, O., Trape, J.F., Uetz, P., Vidan, E. Wagner, P., Wang, Y.Z., Orme, D., Grenyer, R. and Meiri, S. The global distribution of tetrapods reveals a need for targeted reptile conservation. Nature.
Itescu, Y., Lewin, A., Slavenko, A., Meiri, S. and Pafilis, P. PODARCIS ERHARDII (Erhard's wall lizard). EXTREME MORPHOLOGY. Herpetological review.
Published abstracts:
Meiri., S., Itescu, Y., Shacham, H., and Werner, Y. L. 2011. What tortoise is Testudo floweri from the negev, named by Bodenheimer (1935)? Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution. 57, 261.
As of October 2016, I presented my work in six national-level scientific meetings and seven international-level scientific meetings. I won several travel grants and excellence prizes. I also guided 15 undergraduate students in their final scientific projects and served as a teaching assistant in courses at my faculty: "Vertebrates: comparative anatomy and functional morphology" and "Biogeography".
Publications:
Peer-reviewed publications:
Itescu, Y., Schwarz, R., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. Intra-specific competition, not predation, drives tail loss in insular lizards. Journal of Animal Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.
Slavenko, A., Tallowin, O., Itescu, Y., Raia, P., and Meiri, S. 2016. Late Quaternary reptile extinctions: size matters, insularity dominates. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25: 1308-1320.
Lewin, A., Feldman, A., Bauer, A.B., Belmaker, J., Broadley, D.G., Chirio, L., Itescu, Y., LeBerton, M., Maza, E., Meirte, D., Nagy, Z.T., Novosolov, M., Roll, U., Tallowin, O., Trape, J.F., Vidan, E., and Meiri, S. Patterns of species richness, endemism and environmental gradients of African reptiles. Journal of Biogeography. doi: 10.1111/jbi.12848.
Sabath, N., Itescu, Y., Feldman, A., Meiri, S., Mayrose, I., and Valenzuela, N. 2016. Sex Determination, longevity and the birth and death of reptile species. Ecology and Evolution 6: 5207-5220.
Roll, U., Mittermeier, J.C., Diaz, G.I., Novosolov, M., Feldman, A., Itescu, Y., Meiri, S., and Grenyer, R. 2016. Using Wikipedia page views to explore the cultural importance of global reptiles. Biological Conservation. In press.
Itescu, Y., Jamison, S., Slavenko, A., Tamar, K., Roussos, S.A., Foufopoulos, J., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. The Herpetofauna of Folegandros Island (Cyclades, Greece), Greece. Herpetozoa. In press.
Itescu, Y., Schwarz, R., Moses, M., Pafilis, P. and Meiri, S. 2016. Record sizes for the Turkish house gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, from Aegean islands, Greece. Herpetological Bulletin. In press.
Schwarz, R., Gavriilidi, I-A., Itescu, Y., Jamison, S., Sagonas, K., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. Mediodactylus kotschyi in the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece: distribution and habitat. Acta Herpetologica. In press.
Slavenko, A., Itescu, Y., Ihlow, F., and Meiri, S. 2016. Home is where the shell is: predicting turtle home range sizes. Journal of Animal Ecology 85: 106-114.
Itescu, Y., Slavenko, A., Schwarz, R., Meiri, S., and Pafilis, P. 2016. A new record of Chalcides ocellatus (Forskål, 1775) from Kythnos Island, Greece. Herpetozoa 29: 98-100.
Newbold, T., Hudson, L. N., Hill, S. L. L., Contu, S., Lysenko, I., Senior, R. A., Börger, L., Bennett, D., Choimes, A., Collen, B., Day, J., De Palma, A., Díaz, S., Echeverria-Londoño, S., Edgar, M., Feldman, A., Garon, M., Harrison, M. L. K., Ingram, D. J., Itescu, Y., Kattge, J., Kemp, V., Kirkpatrick, L., Kleyer, M., Laginha Pinto Correia, D., Martin, C., Meiri, S., Novosolov, M., Pan, Y., Phillips, H. R. P., Purves, D. W., Robinson, A., Simpson, J., Tuck, S., Weiher, E., White, H. J., Ewers, R. M., Mace, G. M., Scharlemann, J. P. W., and Purvis, A. 2015. Global land-use impacts on local terrestrial biodiversity. Nature 520: 45-50.
Raia, P., Passaro, F., Carotenuto, F., Maiorino, L., Piras, P., Teresi, L., Meiri, S., Itescu, Y., Novosolov, M., Baiano, M. A., Martinez, R. and Fortelius, M. 2015. Cope's rule and the universal scaling law of ornament complexity. The American Naturalist 186: 165-175.
Slavenko, A., Itescu, Y., Foufopoulos, J., Pafilis, P., and Meiri, S. 2015. Clutch size variability in an ostensibly fix-clutched lizard: effects of insularity on a Mediterranean gecko. Evolutionary Biology 42: 129-136.
Meiri, S., Kadison, A., Novosolov, M., Pafilis, P., Foufopoulos, J., Itescu, Y., Raia, P., and Pincheira-Donoso, D. 2014. The number of competitor species is unlinked to sexual dimorphism. Journal of Animal Ecology 83: 1302-1312.
Itescu, Y., Karraker, N. E., Raia, P., Pritchard, P. C. H., and Meiri, S. 2014. Is the Island rule general? Turtles disagree. Global Ecology and Biogeography 23: 689-700.
Non-peer-reviewed publications:
Itescu, Y., Savyon, G., and Slavenko, A. 2015. Eryx jaculus (Sand Boa). Albinism. Herpetological review 46: 103-104.
Submitted manuscripts:
Roll, U., Feldman, A., Novosolov, M., Allison, A., Bauer, A., Bernard, R., Bohm, M., Chirio, L., Collen, B., Colli, G.R., Dabul, L., Das, I., Doan, T., Grismer, L., Herrera, F.C., Hoogmoed, M., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton, M., Lewin, A., Martins, M., Maza, E., Meirte, D., Nagy, Z., Nogueira, C.C., Pauwels, O.S.G., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Powney, G., Sindaco, R., Tallowin, O., Torres-Carvajal, O., Trape, J.F., Uetz, P., Vidan, E. Wagner, P., Wang, Y.Z., Orme, D., Grenyer, R. and Meiri, S. The global distribution of tetrapods reveals a need for targeted reptile conservation. Nature.
Itescu, Y., Lewin, A., Slavenko, A., Meiri, S. and Pafilis, P. PODARCIS ERHARDII (Erhard's wall lizard). EXTREME MORPHOLOGY. Herpetological review.
Published abstracts:
Meiri., S., Itescu, Y., Shacham, H., and Werner, Y. L. 2011. What tortoise is Testudo floweri from the negev, named by Bodenheimer (1935)? Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution. 57, 261.