Kiyomi Johnson (L) and Marina Carbi (R) presenting their poster, “Speciation and Phylogeography of Anolis opalinus on Jamaica,” at JMIH 2018.
Caribbean anoles have been studied extensively, with researchers examining their evolution, ecology, physiology, morphology, and behavior in many different contexts. In some respects, they are one of the best known groups of organisms in the world. But are there still unique species “hidden” within the diversity of anoles we already know? Some papers suggest just that. In 2002, Jackman et al. examined the mitochondrial DNA of Jamaican anoles and found evidence that several species contained deeply diverged clades, indicating the potential presence of cryptic species.
Enter Marina Carbi and Kiyomi Johnson, two public high school students with a drive to dig into the biological sciences and a budding curiosity about all things Anolis. Ms. Carbi, a recent high school graduate, and Ms. Johnson, a rising senior at Fiorello H. LaGuardia public high school, began an internship specifically for high school students at the American Museum of Natural History. Working with Dr. Ed Myers, they set out to investigate the phylogenetic diversity in A. opalinus, the Bluefields anole, by sequencing a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from a series of 22 specimens of Jamaican anoles.
Mss. Carbi and Johnson found that both the mitochondrial data and combined species tree support the existence of a cryptic species within what is currently considered A. opalinus. Populations of the Bluefields anole found in the Blue Mountains area are monophyletic and sister to A. valencienni, indicating a potentially deep divergence from A. opalinus. Todd Jackman, whose initial work inspired this research, dropped by to check out Kiyomi and Marina’s follow up to his paper and was impressed. “Hopefully, they can go to Jamaica themselves,” Todd remarked, before adding as an aside, “I’m glad that their results match ours.”
The authors presented strong evidence that A. opalinus contains a cryptic species. Pic via Twitter.
Looking forward, Ms. Carbi has plans to attend Cornell University in the future, while Ms. Johnson is completing her high school degree. Both expressed interest in continuing to work in biology, with Ms. Carbi noting that she was excited to have had the opportunity to interact with researchers from Cornell at JMIH. The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles provided support for Mss. Johnson and Carbi to attend the meeting. More extensive sequencing is ongoing in order to further elucidate the phylogeography of what is currently known as Anolis opalinus. Stay tuned!
Jonathan Losos
I remember that the Blue Mountain opalinus look different, too–they had blue tails! But I’m a bit skeptical of a sister taxon relationship to the twig anole, A. valencienni. Great stuff!
Skip Lazell
I first went to Jamaica (& Haiti and DR) in 1957 at age17 and have been focused on anoles ever since…. Go for it!
Laura
I didn’t know this. Beautiful!!