SHREVEPORT – LSU Shreveport herpetologist Dr. Stuart Nielsen and a pair of undergraduate students contributed to research that suggests biodiversity in Earth’s driest hot desert is much more expansive than previously thought.
The research analyzed the gecko genus Garthia using modern genomic methods, providing evidence to suggest that two species lineages actually contains anywhere from seven to 11 different species.
The research, published in the journal “Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution,” gathered Garthia specimens from Chile’s Atacama Desert, the driest hot desert on the planet.
“This hidden, or ‘cryptic’ diversity means the desert is home to far more biodiversity than previously recognized,” Nielsen said. “These findings reshape our understanding of how life adapts and persists in harsh environments, and they highlight the urgent need for up-to-date taxonomy and conservation.”
Cryptic diversity describes the existence of multiple distinct species that are classified as a single species because of a lack of visible differences.
Nielsen began this research several years ago when he found discounted airline tickets to Chile, where he then tapped his network of Chilean herpetologists (scientists who study reptiles and amphibians) for collaboration.
LSUS undergraduates Jonathan Eubanks and Hayden Hanna became involved when they worked with the tips of Garthia gecko tails brought back from Chile in the LSUS Museum of Life Sciences.
Eubanks and Hanna extracted DNA from tissue samples, 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 to look for mutations that could signal perhaps a new species.
Their research verified the species-level status of two species that had never been sequenced before.
This research garnered the 2024 George B. Rabb Undergraduate Poster Award in evolution and genetics at the University of Michigan’s annual Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles conference.
“You can only do so much in the classroom,” Nielsen said of involving students in research. “Involving students, especially undergraduates, in real research is one of the most powerful teaching tools we have.
“When students contribute to projects like this, they are not just learning science from a textbook –- they are doing real, basic science, generating new knowledge that changes how we understand the world. That experience builds confidence, sharpens critical thinking, and teaches skills that transfer directly to graduate school, professional programs, and careers.”
Now that research has yielded as many as seven to 11 different gecko species thanks to continued work from the research team, particularly analysis by Australian graduate student Kamryn Carter.
Nielsen believes these further findings warrant another trip to the Chilean desert, perhaps an opportunity for future LSUS biology students to get their hands dirty in the field.
“Prospective students want to know that they’ll have opportunities to work closely with faculty and not just sit in lectures,” Nielsen said. “At LSUS, we can honestly say that undergraduates are involved in cutting-edge research and sometimes even become co-authors on publications like Jonathan and Hayden did.
“That level of engagement is rare at larger institutions, and it’s something that I wish I had as an undergraduate. It makes LSUS special.”
