NSFDEB-NERC: The evolution of visual systems during major life history transitions in frogs

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As one of the primary senses in animals, vision plays an important role in several aspects of an organism's life, including finding food, avoiding predators, and seeking mates. How the eye functions depends on the ecological and the biological characteristics of the organism, such as whether particular species are nocturnal, live underground, or metamorphose, e.g., the transition from a tadpole to adult frog. This project uses frogs as a model group of species to investigate the evolution of vision, by integrating information on the morphology, genetics, and physiology of these organisms. Results from the project will provide insight into the role that vision systems play in the evolution of novel, adaptive solutions to new environmental challenges, a topic of primary importance in understanding causes of species diversification throughout the tree of life. To achieve these goals, this project relies on international collaboration to sample frogs from across the globe. Undergraduate researchers will receive research training and aid in producing the scientific results. This project will leverage the outreach of two major public museums to disseminate the new discoveries to the general public via exhibits and educational e-books.This project integrates morphological, molecular, and spectral data to investigate the evolution of vision systems in frogs at both ancient and recent timescales. Molecular evolutionary studies will provide a genomic perspective on vision evolution with the expectation that visually-oriented frogs exhibit greater levels of natural selection, gene duplication, and retention of vision genes. Characterizing the physiology and molecular underpinnings of vision in species with aquatic tadpoles and terrestrial adults will reveal how the visual system adapts to distinct visual environments during metamorphosis. These broad studies will provide a framework for more focused investigations that target transitions in natural history characteristics. Using the hyperdiverse African reed frogs, this project will test whether the evolution of bright coloration is associated with visual system diversity that maximizes species recognition. Finally, this project will investigate how transitions to life below ground have shaped the morphological and genetic components of visual systems with the expectation that eye reduction accompanies a reduction in use or inactivation of vision genes. This project takes an integrative approach that will provide detailed and comprehensive insight into vision evolution across life history transitions to address a central gap in our overall understanding of vertebrate vision evolution.