Amphibian skin must perform a delicate balancing act: be permeable enough to allow cutaneous gas exchange and water uptake, yet still prevent water loss and pathogenic infections. Frogs, in particular, have evolved diverse structural and functional strategies to navigate these conflicting demands. Despite its central role, the evolution and diversity of frog skin structure remain surprisingly poorly understood. Here, I present my dissertation proposal on the evolution of frog skin, a multifunctional tissue that varies dramatically across species, body regions, and developmental stages. Using a combination of surface profilometry, histology, and gene expression analyses, I explore how ecological factors such as life history and climate influence skin form and function. My work addresses long-standing questions regarding the patterns and ecological drivers of skin variation and provides new insights into the evolution of a regulatory trait essential to frog physiology and survival.
Veronica L. Urgiles
Dr. Anna Savage
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