Presenter(s)

Sudipta Kalita

Comments

1:15-2:30, Kennedy Union Ballroom

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Description

The lower jaw is toothless in all frogs, with the notable exception of Gastrotheca guentheri (Guenther’s marsupial frog), a species that re-evolved true mandibular teeth. Frogs evolved a spectrum of dietary preferences, with some species specializing in hunting small insects like ants and termites to larger species that are opportunistic predators of small mammals. Such vast dietary variation could possibly drive the morphology of lower jaws. Frogs also occupy diverse ecological niches. For example, tree frogs from South America spend their entire lives in the upper canopy of trees, species of African aquatic frogs spend the majority of their life underwater, and some desert frogs live entirely underground, only coming to the surface to breed. Microhabitat differences may also influence jaw shapes due to variability in the types of prey available. A few frogs have tooth-like bony projections on the lower jaw called odontoid fangs. Some of these fanged frogs are among the largest anuran species and known to prey on other vertebrates. Additionally, some fanged frogs take part in male-male combat during the mating season, using their odontoids to bite one another. Currently, it is unknown if the lower jaw morphology of frogs is influenced by diet, microhabitat variation, or presence of odontoid fangs. Our study uses micro-computed tomography data and three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to quantify shape diversity of the lower jaw from 150 frog species. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we are testing if jaw shape is correlated with diet, microhabitat, fang presence, and body size to understand the factors driving lower jaw morphology across living frog diversity.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Daniel J. Paluh

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Critical Evaluation of Our Times; Scholarship

Functional morphology of the lower jaw in frogs

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