Home Page for Rick Lehtinen

In May, I spent three days in lovely Tulsa, Oklahoma attending the 6^th Conference on the Biology of Plethodontid Salamanders (http://plethodontids2014.weebly.com). These salamanders are the most diverse group of salamanders on Earth and the subject of some of my ongoing research. I presented a paper entitled “Multi-locus molecular evidence for widespread hybridization between the northern ravine salamander (Plethodon electromorphus) and the red-backed salamander (P. cinereus)”. This paper was co-authored with Wooster undergraduates Stuti Sharma (’16), E. Cassagnol (’09), H. Edgington (’10), M. Eyre (’13) and M. Stern (’14). In a nutshell, we’ve found evidence for extensive hybridization between these two species of woodland salamander here in north-eastern Ohio. There is so much gene flow between these two species, in fact, that we suspect that these two species may be merging back into one.

This was an intimate meeting with only ~ 100 attendees, allowing for many opportunities for interaction and conversation. Some of the foremost salamander researchers in North America were in attendance presenting on the ecology, evolution, behavior, anatomy, physiology and conservation of these fascinating animals.

The meeting happened to coincide with MayFest, a major art and music festival in Tulsa. At night we got to listen to some live music, enjoy great art and taste the food. While I didn’t give it a try, the deep-fried alligator looked…interesting.

This week a new paper appeared in the journal Ethology based on work that my students and I have been conducting on the Tobago glass frog (Hyalinobatrachium orientale). In this paper, Sara Green (current Wooster senior), Jessica Pringle (Wooster class of ’13) and I report on the adaptive value of male parental care in these frogs and how the form and function of this behavior changes seasonally. This was the result of three field seasons of work on the island of Tobago and incorporated data from Sara and Jessica’s undergraduate theses. Follow up studies are planned this coming summer to further examine variation in parental care in this species and also to investigate how females choose mates. Stay tuned for more revelations on the natural history of this handsome and interesting frog!

Citation:

Lehtinen, R.M., S.E. Green and J.L. Pringle. 2014. Impacts of paternal care and seasonal change on offspring survival: A multi-season experimental study of a Caribbean frog. Ethology 120: 400-409.

 

In December 2013, the Ohio Biological Survey published a massive tome on the amphibians of Ohio. This volume (899 pages!) covers all 40 species of frogs and salamanders to be found in the state. There are also sections on the history of herpetology in Ohio, habitats to find amphibians, taxonomic keys, amphibian conservation and other important topics. This is a very timely and significant contribution as it assesses the current state of our knowledge of these animals and indicates where significant gaps in our understanding remain. It is also a very attractive volume with lots of fabulous photographs.

I was fortunate enough to contribute one chapter to this excellent book (on the pickerel frog). This book will be the standard reference for these organisms in Ohio and adjacent states for many, many years. Kudos to the editors for a job well done and to the Ohio Biological Survey for supporting this important work!

Recently, my collaborators and I published a paper that described a new species of parrot snake from Tobago (click here for a preview). This new snake was named Leptophis haileyi in honor of Dr. Adrian Hailey of the University of the West Indies, a long-time friend and collaborator. This snake has a distinctive snout but is currently only known from a single specimen.

In this paper, we also clarified the evolutionary relationships between one of the other species of parrot snakes from Trinidad and Tobago (Leptophis coruleodorsus, photo below) as compared to mainland forms.

One of the co-authors on the manuscript was Krista Koeller (College of Wooster class of 2013). The molecular phylogenetic analysis presented in this paper was based closely on Krista’s Independent Study thesis. This analysis revealed that L. coeruleodorsus is differentiated from the mainland forms that were included in our analysis. We now have reconstructed the evolutionary history of a number of Trinidad and Tobago amphibians and reptiles (6 frogs, 1 lizard, and 1 snake), with more on the way. Hopefully, these projects will help us understand how these island species came to be where they are and when they got there. Stay tuned!

Three rising Wooster seniors got their boots dirty (and wet) doing field work in Trinidad and Tobago this past summer. Zak Bradley (’14) sampled seventeen streams in Tobago and northern Trinidad catching oodles of freshwater fish. He will use DNA samples from these fish in an effort to fully document the biodiversity of freshwater fish on the island of Tobago and compare their similarity to that of the larger island of Trinidad. We had a blast catching fish both large and small in these tropical streams and even managed to catch a piranha (Astyanax bimaculatus) in the Curaguate River in Trinidad, a locality where this species had not previously been reported. Hard to see in the photo but, yes, they do have very sharp teeth!

Sara Green (’14) studied the interesting and photogenic Tobago glass frog (below). Particularly, Sara was interested in seeing what environmental stimuli might induce premature hatching in glass frog embryos. In this species (as in most glass frogs), eggs are laid on leaves over hanging streams where the embryos will eventually drop to become tadpoles and continue their development.  Sara also made numerous observations on male parental care in this species. In the coming months she will be working to understand under what sets of conditions males provide care to their offspring and when they do not.

 

Grace Clemmens (’14) carried out a study of the Bloody Bay poison frog (a Tobago endemic, below) that involved recording the calls of males at numerous sites to examine the potential influence of anthropogenic noise pollution on their acoustic communication. This involved a lot of driving around Tobago (on the left-hand side, of course!) and listening for and recording males at as many sites as possible. In the process, we also collected data on the presence of this species from thirty-four sites that my students and I had visited previously in 2011 and 2012. Thus, we now have three years of data on the distribution of this species, which is currently classified as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.  No doubt, this information will be useful in the future to monitor the status of this imperiled frog.

As for myself, I kept busy working on a number of other long term projects and helping these excellent students conduct their own. And I did manage to find a little time to enjoy the beautiful sunsets, ripe mangoes, tasty roti, friendly people, and local fermented beverages.

Looking forward to the next trip!