Adam M. M. Stuckert

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Verified

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• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Houston

Amphibians represent a diverse group of tetrapods, marked by deep divergence times between their three systematic orders and families. Studying amphibian biology through the genomics lens increases our understanding of the features of this animal class and that of other terrestrial vertebrates. The need for amphibian genomic resources is more urgen...

The aposematic strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio , is an iconic model system for studying the evolution and maintenance of color variation. Through most of its range, this frog is red with blue limbs. However, frogs from the Bocas del Toro Province, Panama, show striking variance in color and pattern, both sympatrically and allopatrically. Th...

Amphibians represent a diverse group of tetrapods, marked by deep divergence times between their three systematic orders and families. Studying amphibian biology through the genomics lens increases our understanding of the features of this animal class and that of other terrestrial vertebrates. The need for amphibian genomics resources is more urge...

A common goal in evolutionary biology is to discern the mechanisms that produce the astounding diversity of morphologies seen across the tree of life. Aposematic species, those with a conspicuous phenotype coupled with some form of defence, are excellent models to understand the link between vivid colour pattern variations, the natural selection sh...

Aposematic organisms rely on their conspicuous appearance to signal that they are defended and unpalatable. Such phenotypes are strongly tied to survival and reproduction. Aposematic colors and patterns are highly variable; however, the genetic, biochemical and physiological mechanisms producing this conspicuous coloration remain largely unidentifi...

Background Arthropods vector a multitude of human disease-causing organisms, and their geographic ranges are shifting rapidly in response to changing climatic conditions. This is, in turn, altering the landscape of disease risk for human populations that are brought into novel contact with the vectors and the diseases they carry. Sand flies in the...

Aposematic organisms rely on their bright conspicuous coloration to communicate to potential predators that they are toxic and unpalatable. These aposematic phenotypes are strongly tied to survival and therefore make excellent opportunities to investigate the genetic underpinning of coloration. The genus Ranitomeya includes phenotypically diverse m...

Skin coloration and patterning play a key role in animal survival and reproduction. As a result, color phenotypes have generated intense research interest. In aposematic species, color phenotypes can be important in avoiding predation and in mate choice. However, we still know little about the underlying genetic mechanisms of color production, part...

Elaborate and skilled movements of the body have been selected in a variety of species as courtship and rivalry signals. One roadblock in studying these behaviors has been a lack of resources for understanding how they evolved at the genetic level. The Bornean rock frog (Staurois parvus) is an ideal species in which to address this issue. Males wav...

Aposematism continues to be a phenomenon of central interest in evolutionary biology. The life history of the mimic poison frog, Ranitomeya imitator , relies heavily on aposematism. In order for aposematic signals to be effective, predators must be able to learn to avoid the associated phenotype. However, in R. imitator , aposematism is associated...

The evolution of mimicry in a single species or population has rippling inter and intraspecific effects across ecological communities, providing a fascinating mechanism of phenotypic diversification. In this study we present the first identification of genes underlying Müllerian mimicry in a vertebrate, the Peruvian mimic poison frog, Ranitomeya im...

We report preliminary evidence of a symbiotic parabasalian protist in the guts of Peruvian mimic poison frog (Ranitomeya imitator) tadpoles. This species has biparental care and egg-feeding of tadpoles, while the related R. variabilis consumes the ancestral detritus diet in their nursery pools. Each species’ diet was experimentally switched, in the...

Aposematic species combine a conspicuous signal with a secondary defence, the majority of which are studied in the context of a visual signal. While multimodality of the aposematic signal appears to be common in invertebrate species, we know very little about the presence or absence of multimodality in vertebrates. Here, we examine the possibility...

Sandflies are vector species of Leishmania, among many other pathogens, with a global distribution and a variety of ecological niches. Previous samplings have found that karstic formations (i.e., caves, grottos, and folds formed by the erosion of limestone) serve as a natural habitat to sandfly species. The majority of samplings of cave sandfly div...

Wolbachia is a genus of globally distributed endosymbiotic bacteria found in thousands of species of arthropods and nematodes. One strain, wMel, has spread globally but varies dramatically in frequency. In a new paper, Hague et al. discovered that the interaction of host genotype, symbiont genotype, and environment explains natural wMel variation.

Sandflies are vector species of Leishmania , among many other pathogens, with a global distribution and a variety of ecological niches. Previous samplings have found that karstic formations (i.e., caves and folds formed by the erosion of limestone) serve as a natural habitat to sandfly species. The majority of samplings of cave sandfly diversity ha...

The dear enemy hypothesis predicts that territorial individuals will be less aggressive toward known neighbors than to strangers. This hypothesis has been well studied and there is a wealth of data demonstrating its prevalence in some taxa. However, a quantitative synthesis is needed to test the generality of the phenomenon, identify key mechanisms...

A common goal in evolutionary biology is to discern the mechanisms that produce the astounding diversity of morphologies seen across the tree of life. Aposematic species, those with a conspicuous phenotype coupled with some form of defence, are excellent models to understand the link between vivid colour pattern variations, the natural selection sh...

Salinization is a global phenomenon affecting ecosystems and forcing freshwater organisms to deal with increasing levels of ionic stress. However, our understanding of mechanisms that permit salt tolerance in amphibians is limited. This study investigates mechanisms of salt tolerance in locally adapted, coastal populations of a treefrog, Hyla ciner...

Background Color and pattern phenotypes have clear implications for survival and reproduction in many species. However, the mechanisms that produce this coloration are still poorly characterized, especially at the genomic level. Here we have taken a transcriptomics-based approach to elucidate the underlying genetic mechanisms affecting color and pa...

A common goal in evolutionary biology is to discern the mechanisms that produce the astounding diversity of morphologies seen across the tree of life. Aposematic species, those with a conspicuous phenotype coupled with some form of defense, are excellent models to understand the link between vivid color pattern variations, the natural selection sha...

Appendix S1. Methods for compiling Table S1.

Table S1. Examples of warning‐colour variation described in existing literature.

We compared the colour patterns of free swimming, reproductively active male threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus of the anadromous and stream ecotypes from three geographically distinct regions. Consistent with the hypothesis of environmentally mediated selection, our results indicate ecologically replicated differences in G. aculeatus co...

Color and pattern phenotypes have clear implications for survival and reproduction in many species. However, the mechanisms that produce this coloration are still poorly characterized, especially at the genomic level. Here we have taken a transcriptomics-based approach to elucidate the underlying genetic mechanisms affecting color and pattern in a...

Aposematic theory has historically predicted that predators should select for warning signals to converge on a single form, as a result of frequency‐dependent learning. However, widespread variation in warning signals is observed across closely related species, populations and, most problematically for evolutionary biologists, among individuals in...

Signaling is an important part of intraspecific and interspecific interactions. Theoretical work examining honest signaling in aposematic species (e.g., those with conspicuous colors and secondary defenses) has focused primarily on discerning the patterns between conspicuousness and defense within populations. Most empirical work, however, has inve...

The term frequency dependence describes scenarios in which the likelihood of an event occurring is strongly tied to how common a particular trait is. Understanding frequency dependence is key to understanding numerous biological processes relevant to evolution by natural selection, such as predation, mimicry, disease, and effective vaccinations. We...

We explore the relevance of honest signalling theory to the evolution of aposematism. We begin with a general consideration of models of signal stability, with a focus on the Zahavian costly-signalling framework. Next, we review early models of signalling in the context of aposematism (some that are consistent and some inconsistent with costly hone...

Polytypism in aposematic species is unlikely according to theory, but commonly seen in nature. Ranitomeya imitator is a poison frog species exhibiting polytypic mimicry of three congeneric model species (R. fantastica, R. summersi, and two morphs of R. variabilis) across four allopatric populations (a "mimetic radiation"). In order to investigate c...

The evolution of mimicry is one of the most powerful examples of evolution driven by natural selection; however it is rare in non-insect taxa and thus is understudied. Ranitomeya imitator underwent a ‘mimetic radiation’ and now mimics three congeneric model species (R. fantastica, R. summersi, and two morphs of R. variabilis), creating geographical...

The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been implicated as the cause of many global am-phibian declines (Berger et al. 1998; Bosch et al. 2001; Briggs et al. 2005; Longcore et al. 1999; Ron and Merino 2000; Skerratt et al. 2007). Central American amphibians have experienced substantial declines (Stuart et al. 2004, 2008) and B...

Microhabitat use and spatial distribution in Picado's Bromeliad Treefrog, Isthmohyla picadoi (Anura, Hylidae). Isthmohyla picadoi is a Neotropical hylid frog found in upper humid montane forests of Costa Rica and Panama. The species is of particular interest because it continues to persist in an area in which the amphibian community has otherwise b...