African Reed Frog Diversity
Reed frogs (Hyperolius spp.) are the most species-rich genus in the family Hyperoliidae, a group of frogs endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf of Guinea islands. Three species are endemic to oceanic islands in the archipelago, but the diversity and distribution of reed frogs on Bioko, a land-bridge island in the archipelago, remains unclear. I completed an integrative study blending genetics, morphology, and advertisement call data to describe the poorly known reed frog fauna of Bioko Island in Central Africa.
DOWNLOAD MANUSCRIPTEvolution of color in caecilians
Aposematism has evolved repeatedly in frogs and salamanders but is unknown from the third order of amphibians: caecilians. While most caecilians possess drab coloration, the two species of São Tomé caecilians (Schistometopum thomense, S. ephele) are bright yellow and phenotypically variable across their limited range. Leveraging genomics, chemical ecology, and visual modeling approaches, I am exploring the evolutionary significance for bright coloration in a major group of tetrapods for which no such studies exist. Photo credits: A. Stanbridge.
This is my phd work :)
Chytrid in West Africa
The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is implicated in global declines and extinctions of amphibian species. Although Bd is found on all continents where amphibians persist, disease dynamics and prevalence remain poorly quantified and understood in certain regions of the world, such as West Africa. We screened fluid-preserved amphibian specimens and detected Bd-positive samples suggesting that Bd has been present in West Africa for at least 54 years. We obtained sequence data for two of these samples and both were placed in the Bd-GPL2 clade in a phylogenetic analysis. West Africa hosts amphibian assemblages that are distinct from any other African region, thus continued Bd surveys are crucial for defining the extent of Bd across Africa and preserving the unique amphibian diversity of this region.
in review... stay tuned!Anolis pattern polymorphisms
Coloration and patterning can play a critical role in organismal fitness, especially when color patterns are present in discrete morphs (i.e., polymorphism). In many Anolis species, dorsal pattern polymorphisms are sex-limited, with females typically being more polymorphic than males. However, the drivers of female-limited pattern polymorphisms are still unclear, with several studies suggesting that microhabitat use, differential predation rates, or mate avoidance may play roles in this phenomenon. The slender anole (Anolis apletophallus) is distributed across an ecological gradient in central Panama and exhibits a female-limited polymorphism in dorsal patterning making it a tractable system to link ecological variation and natural selection to molecular evolution. In this study, we explored how variation in female color patterning is maintained in populations of the slender anole.
in preparation....jpg)