Natural Inspiration

The Smoky Mountains are home to about 30 species of lungless salamanders, including Plethodon montanus. Mike Belleme
September 22, 2022

Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & YIBS Faculty Affiliate, Martha Muñoz, has shown that organisms can influence their own evolution, a lesson she’s passing on to her students. After working in the lab all summer, Muñoz’s students are eager to see the salamanders in their native habitat. The first night out is challenging, as the species they’re seeking proves elusive. But by the second night the students know the routine better, and they’ve set their sights on a different species that proves to be more plentiful. Anderson, with the aid of the new walking stick, catches a few to help the group meet its goal. Jesús Buenrostro, a YIBS SURES program summer fellow, who as a youth worked alongside his mom packing fruit, shows no fear as he digs into the dirt. They finish up before midnight, far earlier than expected. “You guys are awesome,” Muñoz says. “In one day, you figured it all out.” Click here to read the full Science article. 

News & Updates

An artist’s depiction of Likweli, a new Colobus monkey species that inhabits forest canopies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is difficult to photograph.  Illustration by Kimio Honda

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Distinctive spiral striations on the teeth of extant species of Cyclothone — the world’s most numerically abundant fish genus — match striated patterns on fossilized teeth dated to more than 55 million years ago.  Photo by Karinne Tennenbaum

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Southern Appalachian salamander at Grandfather Mountain State Park, North Carolina.

The secret lives of salamanders

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For her doctoral dissertation, Yale’s Nathalie Alomar decided to study a small amphibian that appeared to have eluded the forces of evolution.  She found that there is more...