Quickly wanted to highlight some of our lab’s publications this year:

1. Out in March, from a side project during my PhD and a collaboration with friend Anne Chambers: Chambers^, EA, RD Tarvin^, JC Santos, SR Ron, M Betancourth-Cundar, DM Hillis, MV Matz, and DC Cannatella. 2023. 2b or not 2b? 2bRAD is an effective alternative to ddRAD for phylogenomics. Ecology and Evolution 13: e9842. PDF • https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9842 • Twitter Thread (3/10/23)

2. Out in June, Kate Montana’s undergraduate thesis: Montana, KO, V Ramírez-Castañeda† and RD Tarvin. 2023. Are Pacific Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris regilla) resistant to tetrodotoxin (TTX)? Characterizing potential TTX exposure and resistance in an ecological associate of Pacific Newts (Taricha). Journal of Herpetology 57: 220—228. (Open Access) https://doi.org/10.1670/22-002 • PDF

3. Out in October, Yin Chen Wan’s undergraduate thesis: Wan^, YC, MJ Navarrete^†, LA O’Connell, LH Uricchio, A Roland, ME Maan, SR Ron, M Betancourth-Cundar, MR Pie, K Howell, CL Richards-Zawacki, ME Cummings, DC Cannatella, JC Santos*, and RD Tarvin*. 2023. Selection on visual opsin genes in diurnal Neotropical frogs and loss of the SWS2 opsin in poison frogs. Molecular Biology and Evolution 40: msad206. (Open Access) https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad206 • PDF • Twitter Thread (10/21/22)

4. Out in November, a Tarvin lab collaborative review paper: Tarvin*, RD, KC Pearson*, TE Douglas, V Ramírez-Castañeda, María José Navarrete. 2023. The diverse mechanisms animals use to resist toxins. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102320-102117 • PDF

5. Also out in November, a response to a commentary about specimen collection: Nachman, MW, … RD Tarvin, et al. 2023. Specimen collection is essential for modern science. PLoS Biology 21:e3002318. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002318 • PDF

URAP students Bri Baumbach and Marc Bonnot have been working hard all semester on a project led by Max Lambert to quantify morphological differences across the range of the Cascades Frog (Rana cascadae). This species is undergoing review for listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. Bri and Marc will provide evidence for morphological differences among populations that will help in assessing whether Cascades Frog should become a listed species. The data will be merged with an ongoing genomic analysis by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (led by Max) to determine whether there is any important genetic and anatomical differentiation among Cascades Frog populations.

Bri and Marc measuring specimens in the MVZ

As the semester winds down, we were able to set up a visit for URAP students Bri and Marc to visit the CAS Herpetology collection (thanks Lauren for hosting!) to measure more Rana cascadae specimens. Lauren made time to show us the irreplaceable Galapagos tortoise shell collection. We learned that the animals were collected in 1905, and that during the collection trip the CAS burned down in the SF earthquake. The tortoises were then the new foundation of the collection when they arrived. At the time of their collection, more than 15,000 tortoises were being killed annually for various reasons (many for meat or other animal products).

Bri, Becca, and Marc with the tortoises. Photo by Lauren Scheinberg

Undergraduate Novia Kayfetz-Vuong has received funding to work over the summer on Epipedobates genetics. Congrats Novia!

Novia Kayfetz-Vuong is a new undergraduate in the lab. She will be picking up the RNAseq project on nudibranchs started by Yin Chen Wan and Noah Martin. Welcome Novia!