Read on Twitter
New paper out in early view today! https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15405
In the beginning we set out to find Atelopus that may be persisting in Panama (led by @jamie_voyles and @Cori_Zawacki). While we may not have found tons, we did find some! Then we used exome capture sequencing to compare historical and contemporary populations.
First thing we found was a strong signature of isolation by distance and no clear species split (between Atelopus zeteki and Atelopus varius) given the continuous genetic differentiation across their range.
Next we looked at places where we found survivors. For the most part, contemporary A. varius are genetically indistinguishable from their historic counterparts. Except for one special locality where we encountered most of the surviving frogs - El Copé West.
At El Copé West contemporary frogs were much more genetically variable than historic frogs from the same place. Super interesting!
Finally, we searched for genetic variants associated with surviving individuals. Unfortunately our sample size did not give us enough power to find significant associations, but we report the most associated gene variants to compare to previous studies and spur future research.
Thanks to everyone who played a crucial role in this research! I am humbled to work on this amazing animal in the wonderful country of Panama. This paper inspired my postdoc project and I'm excited to contribute more to the conservation of this species. Viva la rana dorada!
