Page last updated: 5/12/2019
Research.
Why study reptiles and amphibians?
- They are astounding critters. They can regenerate appendages (check out this SciShow video), have a wide variety of body sizes from minuscule (e.g., Noble's Pygmy Frog, Dwarf Gecko) to massive (e.g., Japanese Giant Salamander, Saltwater Crocodile), and exhibit a variety of reproductive behaviors (e.g., viviparity and multi-year gestation in the Alpine black salamander).
- Reptiles and amphibians play essential roles within ecosystems (e.g., salamander larvae are top predators in many head water stream communities, tadpoles influence ecosystem function, salamanders help regulate leaf-litter communities in forests, and through metamorphosis amphibians link aquatic and terrestrial food webs).
- Studying these organisms can benefit our economy, medicine, and technologies (e.g., secretions from amphibian skin may be useful in developing new drugs, microscopic nanotubes have been developed to mimic the adhesion capabilities of gecko's feet).
Postdoctoral Research, USM & USGS - The population genetics of the Gulf Coast waterdogs (Necturus beyeri).
My postdoc began an adventure with a new family and genus of salamanders, the mudpuppies and waterdogs (Family Proteidae; Genus Necturus). The goals of this collaborative project with the USGS were to:
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Microsatellites are highly variable, nuclear, genetic markers that we can use to answer lots of questions relevant to biology & conservation (e.g., how far are individuals moving & dispersing their alleles?). Many of the primers we developed also work for other taxa within the genus, including for the endangered Black Warrior waterdog (N. alabamensis) (Lamb et al., 2017). Stay tuned for results from our cross-drainage & fine-scale studies.
Doctoral Research, USM.
As a Ph.D. student I applied hierarchical occupancy models to determine how stream permanence, stream size, and topography influenced occurrence across five species of lungless salamanders in the Gulf Coastal Plain. This work has been published in the Journal of Herpetology (Lamb et al., 2016). I also used other hierarchical models which incorporated asymmetric negative species interactions and habitat gradients to explain occurrence in three species of Eurycea.
Another project during my Ph.D. focused on the phylogeography of dusky salamanders in the Gulf Coastal Plain. I used DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes (COx I; CytB) and one nuclear gene (RAG-1) to uncover multiple, divergent lineages within a widely distributed salamander, the spotted dusky salamander (D. conanti). I also developed and applied novel microsatellite markers (Lamb et al., 2015) to look at more recent gene flow among and within these lineages.
Another project during my Ph.D. focused on the phylogeography of dusky salamanders in the Gulf Coastal Plain. I used DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes (COx I; CytB) and one nuclear gene (RAG-1) to uncover multiple, divergent lineages within a widely distributed salamander, the spotted dusky salamander (D. conanti). I also developed and applied novel microsatellite markers (Lamb et al., 2015) to look at more recent gene flow among and within these lineages.
Select side projects & collaborations.
- A new species of dusky salamander in the Coastal Plain! My collaborators and I applied sequence data, as well as morphological and ecological information, to describe a new species of dusky salamander found in Mississippi and Louisiana, Valentine's southern dusky salamander (Desmognathus valentinei). This work has recently been published in the journal Zootaxa (Means et al., 2017).
- Reproductive isolation between two sympatric Desmognathus: D. conanti and D. valentinei. I conducted laboratory courtship trials between homo- and heterospefic pairs of D. conanti and D. valentinei to determine whether populations in the Pearl and Pascagoula River Drainages were sexually isolated. I also allowed females to oviposit and then used microsatellites to describe sperm storage and paternity in these species. This paper was recently published in the journal Copeia (Lamb, 2017)
Select publications.
Lamb, J.Y. (In Press) Skin sloughing and spermatophore loss during courtship in dusky salamanders (Genus Desmognathus). Southeastern Naturalist.
Lamb, J.Y., Kreiser, B.R., Waddle, J.H., and Qualls, C.Q. (2017) Characterization of microsatellite loci for the Gulf Coast waterdog (Necturus beyeri) using paired-end Illumina shotgun sequencing and cross-amplification in other Necturus. Herpetological Review 48(4): 758 – 763
Lamb, J. Y. (2017) Sexual isolation between two sympatric Desmognathus in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Copeia.
Means, D. B., Lamb, J. Y., and Bernardo, J. (2017) A new species of dusky salamander (Amphibia: Plethodontidae: Desmognathus) from the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain and a redescription of D. auriculatus. Zootaxa 4263(3): 467 – 506.
Lamb, J. Y., Waddle, J. H., and Qualls, C. Q. (2017). Estimating occupancy and detection probabilities for stream-breeding salamanders in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Journal of Herpetology 51(1): 102 – 108.
Lamb, J. Y., Kreiser, B. R., and Qualls, C. P. (2015) Characterization of microsatellite loci for the spotted dusky salamander (Desmognathus conanti) using paired-end Illumina shotgun sequencing and cross-amplification in another species of Desmognathus. Herpetological Review 46(3): 343 – 347.
Lamb, J.Y., Ennen, J.R., and Qualls C.P. 2013. Environmental characteristics of nest-sites selected by gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in southern Mississippi. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 12(2): 227 – 234.
Lamb, J.Y., Kreiser, B.R., Waddle, J.H., and Qualls, C.Q. (2017) Characterization of microsatellite loci for the Gulf Coast waterdog (Necturus beyeri) using paired-end Illumina shotgun sequencing and cross-amplification in other Necturus. Herpetological Review 48(4): 758 – 763
Lamb, J. Y. (2017) Sexual isolation between two sympatric Desmognathus in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Copeia.
Means, D. B., Lamb, J. Y., and Bernardo, J. (2017) A new species of dusky salamander (Amphibia: Plethodontidae: Desmognathus) from the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain and a redescription of D. auriculatus. Zootaxa 4263(3): 467 – 506.
Lamb, J. Y., Waddle, J. H., and Qualls, C. Q. (2017). Estimating occupancy and detection probabilities for stream-breeding salamanders in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Journal of Herpetology 51(1): 102 – 108.
Lamb, J. Y., Kreiser, B. R., and Qualls, C. P. (2015) Characterization of microsatellite loci for the spotted dusky salamander (Desmognathus conanti) using paired-end Illumina shotgun sequencing and cross-amplification in another species of Desmognathus. Herpetological Review 46(3): 343 – 347.
Lamb, J.Y., Ennen, J.R., and Qualls C.P. 2013. Environmental characteristics of nest-sites selected by gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in southern Mississippi. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 12(2): 227 – 234.