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Heather Maher is a junior Biology major at James Madison University and is a second year member of Dr. David S. McLeod's research lab. Dr. McLeod’s research lab studies the “fanged frogs” of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex from Southeast Asia. The L. kuhlii complex is compromised of twenty-four different species and in order to differentiate these species we use a combination of genetic and morphological data. Heather started out in the lab collecting standard morphometric data from preserved frog specimens and noticed that, among other characters, head shape varied between the species. She is currently using MorphoJ (a geometric morphometric software package) to collect and analyze the head shapes of several species.  In particular, Heather is working on describing a new species of the L. kuhlii complex from Cambodia.   Additionally, in collaboration with several labmates, Heather is also involved in a project focused on the structure, function, and definition of the ‘bumps’ on frogs skin—commonly referred to as tubercles.  These basic aspects of frog biology are poorly understood and this contribution will help to resolve some long-standing questions about frogs.


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