Breda Zimkus, Tanzania 2007, with chameleon.
Sub-Saharan Amphibians
Post-doctoral Fellow, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Herpetology
2010 EOL Fellow
Breda Zimkus is a post-doctoral researcher at Harvard University’s Museum of
Comparative Zoology. Her research combines fieldwork in sub-Saharan Africa with
the collection of molecular and morphological data in the laboratory to
investigate the evolution of African amphibians and identify patterns of
continental speciation. As an EOL Rubenstein fellow, Breda will assemble
species pages to assist in to identification and conservation of sub-Saharan
amphibians. The diversity of sub-Saharan amphibians is high in several regions
across the African continent (Stuart et al., 2004), corresponding to recognized
biodiversity hotspots, including the Guinean Forests of West Africa, Eastern
Afromontane, and Coastal Forests of East Africa (Myers et al., 2000). The
advent of DNA technology, as well as survey work in some countries that have
previously received little attention, has led to an increase in the knowledge
of many species, including their geographic range, morphology, and ecology.
This recent revival of African herpetology has also led to the description of
many new and previously cryptic species. Despite this, Africa still remains one
of the most poorly understood areas for amphibians globally, with species rarely
collected and basic data on their ecology and distribution incompletely
understood. Consequently, conservation status is only adequately known for some
species. This lack of knowledge is particularly worrying as concentrations of
species are found in a number of sub-Saharan regions seriously threatened by
environmental change, most prominently the biodiversity hotspots of Africa
(Stuart et al., 2004). There is also a serious conservation risk to amphibians
globally with the emerging prevalence of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis,
possibly responsible for the extinction of many species (Wake and Vredenburg,
2008).
African herpetologists often do not have access to original descriptions,
taxonomic changes, and updates of species distributions from scientific
journals. The availability of detailed descriptions of species online will be
extremely useful in the identification and subsequent conservation of species,
while also promoting regional specialist knowledge. Conservation biologists
will use this information to better assess Africa’s biological diversity, and
institutions (including governments) will be able to make more informed
decisions towards their long-term conservation
http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/hanken/public_html/Zimkus.htm
Ptychadena neumanni (Neumann's grassland frog) endemic to Ethiopia. Photo: R. Kerney and B. Zimkus.
Callulina kreffti (Krefft's warty frog) collected in Tanzania. Male Callulina are much smaller than females, but they secrete a substance from the skin that allows them to “stick” to females during mating. Photo: L. Mahler and B. Zimkus.
