LSUS research verifies new Chilean gecko species, wins prestigious award

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LSUS research verifies new Chilean gecko species, wins prestigious award

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - LSUS biology students Jonathan Eubanks and Hayden Hanna experienced a slew of firsts at an amphibians and reptiles conference at the University of Michigan.

First research project experience, first plane ride, first trip out of the South … and the students learned of another first as they were chowing down on their first Korean barbecue meal.

They experienced their first win. Eubanks and Hanna won the George B. Rabb Undergraduate Poster Award in evolution and genetics for their research concerning genetic diversity in Chilean geckos.

"We had no clue that we would win," said Eubanks, a biology senior from Elm Grove. "We were about to get ice cream after our Korean barbecue, and (LSUS assistant professor Dr. Stuart Nielsen) received a text message that we won.

"We rushed back to campus."

Among amphibian and reptile collegiate giants like Michigan and the University of Florida, Eubanks' and Hanna's research that suggests higher than expected genetic diversity among Chilean geckos stormed away with the poster victory.

The students presented their research at Michigan's Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 2024 conference in late June, winning against a field of 19 undergraduate projects.

The research is titled, "Phylogenetics and range-wide phylogeography of Garthia, a phyllodactylid gecko genus endemic to Chile."

"I walked around the poster room and thought that we definitely weren't going to win against all of these other schools that have a lot more funding and with established labs," said Hanna, a junior who is president of the biology club and a Shreveport native. "But I also knew that our poster looked pleasing to the eye and that our research was solid.

"I thought maybe we had a chance."

The pair extracted DNA from tissue samples of the tips of Garthia gecko tails, replicating that mitochondrial DNA until there was enough concentration of the material to study.

A third-party sequenced that DNA, whereupon the LSUS students honed in on a minute portion of the genome and looked for mutations that could signal perhaps a new species.

"With those DNA sequences, we generated this tree and were looking for clusters of gecko samples with similar DNA," said Nielsen, a herpetologist who guided the students' research. "Essentially what you have is more genetic diversity here than anyone expected.

"My Chilean colleagues and I are super excited because we verified the species-level status of two species that had never been sequenced before, and discovered for the first time multiple cryptic species. Essentially, what we've long thought was a single, widespread species is actually composed of at three, 'cryptic,' geographically-restricted, species-level lineages. It's far more diversity than we currently recognized, and that was completely unexpected."

The research was funded by a faculty research and development grant and by the College of Arts and Sciences through Dean Tibor Szarvas.

The research project started when Nielsen traveled to Chile because of a discounted airline ticket, and Nielsen leveraged his herpetology network to identify Chilean scientists with which to work.

He and his Chilean colleagues collected Garthia gecko specimens, returning with a handful of full specimens but mostly just tail tips as the Chilean authorities would allow.

"This project is huge for the school, for our students and for myself because it shows that LSUS does have a national and an international footprint," Nielsen said. "The next step is having students going into the field with me to places like Chile and collect specimens."

Hanna and Eubanks were exposed to the project through their work in the LSUS Museum of Life Sciences, which underwent interior renovations with the hope of bringing in outside groups.

"Touring the (University of Michigan Natural History Museum) and their collections gave us so many new ideas and inspiration for things we can do here," Hanna said. "It was the first research experience for either of us, and it's been a great experience and a great resume builder.

"I was taking a genetics class at the same time, and conducting this research on genomes and extracting DNA really helped me understand genetics a lot better."

Nielsen joked that he did fail in one respect - neither student is planning on pursuing herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians).

Eubanks is planning to work in environmental science, although his exposure to Nielsen could push him into the study of animals within the environmental science context.

Hanna aims to become a college biology professor after obtaining a master's and doctorate degree, likely with a focus in entomology (insects).