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Local Discovery of New Salamander Breed Leads to Scientific Publication

WOOSTER, Ohio � Peak under a rock at ������˾�� Memorial Park or Secrest Arboretum, and you may come face-to-face with an unusual breed of salamander. It was first discovered locally and then found in a few other areas of northeast Ohio, confirmed via research by ������˾���sRichard Lehtinen, associate professor of biology and chair of the environmental studies program.

Lehtinen�s recently published work, �Identification of Widespread Hybridization Between Two Terrestrial Salamanders Using Morphology, Coloration, and Molecular Markers,� in the scientific journalCopeia, details the first known breeding between red-back salamanders and ravine salamanders, a surprising development according to the long-time amphibian expert.
The exploration of this topic began in 2003 when Lehtinen first came to ������˾�� and was unable to identify some salamanders during regular trips to ������˾�� Memorial Park, and as the years went by there were still 10-20% he could not classify. �These things are just weird. They don�t fall into one category or another, maybe they�re hybridizing with one another,� he recalled thinking.
So, Lehtinen and a team of students put the theory to test. �Over a series of years, we developed DNA markers that would help us distinguish pure red-bank salamanders and pure ravine salamanders from hybrids. Those DNA markers told us not only are those two species mating with each other, but they�re doing it very, very frequently. That was surprising to us,� he explained.
�This is the first paper that demonstrates clearly these two species can and do hybridize, and there is hybridization going on extensively here in our backyard at ������˾�� Memorial Park and Secrest Arboretum as well as in other parts of northeast Ohio,� he added.
This fall and beyond, Lehtinen plans to continue this research, extending the project to southern Ohio, with the goal of studying the evolutionary state of these two species of salamanders. �I�m interested in this from an evolutionary standpoint. I think it can tell us something interesting as to how new life forms come about. Most people focus on how species initially diverge from one another. We�re looking at it from the back end, reverse speciation.�
Fellow researchers and co-authors of the published article were ������˾�� alumsEmlyne Cassagnol �09,��Hilary Edgington �10,��Meredith Eyre �13,��Anthony Steratore �12, andMitchell Stern �14.

Image: ������˾�� senior Julia Fregonara and professor of biology Rick Lehtinen examine a salamander at ������˾�� Memorial Park.

Posted in News on October 3, 2016.