Taran Grant

Professor, IBUSP; Associate Curator, Amphibians, MZUSP

Bio and research interests: I am a professor at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in the Departamento de Zoologia of the Instituto de Biociências and Associate Curator, Amphibians, in the Museum of Zoology. I am Canadian but have lived abroad since 1994 when I moved to Colombia to pursue my undergraduate degree at the Universidad del Valle, in Cali. In 1998 I was awarded a joint fellowship from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and Center for Environmental Research and Conservation to pursue my graduate studies in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Columbia University. I completed my PhD in 2005 (advisor: Darrel Frost) and received a post-doctoral fellowship in computational biology at AMNH (supervisor: Ward Wheeler). In 2007, I joined the faculty at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and in 2011 I moved to USP. I am also Senior Editor/Editor-in-Chief of the South American Journal of Herpetology, published by the Brazilian Society of Herpetology, and member of the Board of Directors of BioOne, the leading research aggregator in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. My first interest is the evolution of amphibian diversity, with squamate reptiles being a distant second. The world’s richest countries in terms of amphibian species diversity are Brazil and Colombia, and most of my empirical work is centered in those countries. In collaboration with students and colleagues, I study the evolution of amphibian diversity from a variety of perspectives, from the theory and practice of phylogenetic inference to toad migration, the invasion biology of the American bullfrog, and the evolution of chemical defense.

Esdras Matheus Gomes da Silva

Project title: Unraveling anuran host defense peptides (HDPs) and their biotechnological potential through a multi-omics computational approach

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Research interests: Works in the field of Bioinformatics, with an emphasis on the analysis and integration of High-Throughput Sequencing (NGS) data from DNA, RNA (RNA-Seq), and protein mass spectrometry (tandem-MS).

Luiz Carlos Irber Junior

Project title: Amphibian phylogenomics

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Research interests: Works in the area of software research and maintenance, developing systems that help researchers solve problems in their respective fields of expertise. Also engages in mentoring and teaching on computational best practices for scientists. Has experience in Computer Science, with an emphasis on Computer Systems Architecture, focusing mainly on the following topics: Linux, Python, free software, and open-source code.

Daniel Yudi Miyahara Nakamura

Inter-institutional Graduate Program in Bioinformatics, USP

Project title: Lost biodiversity in the genomic age: contributions from historical DNA to the systematics of rare and extinct frogs

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Research interests: Biologist with a B.Sc. and Teaching Degree from the University of São Paulo (USP, 2022) and currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics (USP, ongoing). Internship abroad at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH, 2025). Specialized in Zoology and Genetics, with a focus on Herpetology. Research interests include methodological advances and applications of (1) ancient DNA, (2) phylogenetic systematics, and (3) macroevolution.

João Marcos Pereira

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Efficacy of the coloration of Brachycephalus rotenbergae (Anura: Brachycephalidae) as an aposematic signal for visually oriented predators

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Research interests: I am interested in the ecology and evolution of amphibians, mainly in defense mechanisms such as chemical defense and aposematism. Currently, in my PhD project, I am studying the chemical defense of species of the genus Brachycephalus, focusing on understanding the relationships between the amount of tetrodotoxin and aposematism, and its implications in ecological and evolutionary aspects.

Katarine Nogueira Norbertino

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Evolução da comunicação acústica nas rãs-de-veneno e seus parentes (Anura, Dendrobatoidea)

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Research interests: Natural history, ethology, taxonomy, and phylogenetic systematics of amphibians.

Marianna Silva Borburema

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Taxonomic revision of the Crossodactylus gaudichaudii species group (Anura; Hylodidae)

Funding agency: FAPESP

Max Hideki Oliveira Homma

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Revisão taxonômica de Allobates (Anura; Aromobatidae) da Mata Atlântica

Funding agency: CAPES

Thifany Oliveira Santos Lima

IBUSP

Project title: Morfologia e ecologia dos girinos (Lissamphibia:Anura) da Estação Ecológica Estadual de Wenceslau Guimarães, Bahia, Brasil

Pablo Kimy Mondragón

IBUSP

Project title: Variação estrutural genômica associadas a transposons em anuros

Michele Pierotti

Visiting Scientist

Paulo Pinheiro

Project title: Study of Comparative Anatomy and Evolution of the Prepollical Spine in Anura (Chordata: Lissamphibia)

Tenure: 2019–2023

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Research interests: I am interested in systematics, taxonomy, and character systems evolution in anurans. There are some researches with molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of several Cophomantini groups (Hylidae) resulting from my PhD thesis, specially within the Boana genus. Also, with a robust phyloegentic hypothesis of this tribe, I started studying the evolution of the prepollex within it. Now, my challenge is to understand the existing convergence of the prepollical spine in some distant related anuran clades.

Carola Yovanovich

Project title: A systematic study of amphibian visual systems: From the evolution of diel patterns to the physiological limits of colour vision

Tenure: 2017–2020

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Current appointment: Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow, University of Sussex, UK

Research interests: My main research interests are sensory systems and amphibian biology, and my current work has the best of both worlds: I am studying the evolution, adaptations, and capabilities of the visual system in different groups of anurans.

Marco Antonio Rada García

Project title: Total evidence analysis of glassfrogs and their relatives (Anura: Allocentroleniae)

Tenure: 2017–2019

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES Programa Nacional de Pós Doutorado, Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Research interests: My research interest is amphibian taxonomy and systematics, with special emphasis on the family Centrolenidae (glassfrogs). I completed my PhD in 2014 and received a post-doctoral fellowship with a project focuses on systematics. My projects involve phylogenetic studies and species limits employing both morphological (adults and larval) and molecular evidence.

Boris Leonardo Blotto Acuña

Project title: Relationships among major clades of Hyloidea (Anura: Neobatrachia): one of the main unresolved problems of the phylogeny of Anura

Tenure: 2014–2017

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Current appointment: Researcher, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’–Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina

Research interests: My main interest is anuran phylogeny. Within this framework, I am particularly interested in the elaboration of phenotypic matrices with emphasis in musculature, in order to perform simultaneous analyses with total evidence and suggest synapomorphies for diverse clades. As these goals are achieved, my secondary interest is in addressing questions about the evolution of different morphological traits.

Victor Goyannes Dill Orrico

Project title: Polymorphism and cryptic species: understanding South American biodiversity through the genus Dendropsophus Fitzinger, 1843

Tenure: 2012–2014

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Current appointment: Professor, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Brazil

Research interests: My main research interest is amphibian taxonomy and systematics, with special emphasis on the genus Dendropsophus (Hylidae). My post-doc project focuses on the species limits of some poorly known amphibians, linking the molecular diversity to variations in phenotipic characters—binding the logical and practical aspects of taxonomy and the evolution of phenotypical traits.

Marvin Alfredo Anganoy-Criollo

Year of degree: 2022

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Phylogenetic relationships of Hyloxalus Jiménez De La Espada, 1870 (Anura: Dendrobatoidea: Dendrobatidae)

Fellowship funding agency: Fundación CEIBA, Colombia

Adriana Moriguchi Jeckel

Year of degree: 2020

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Sequestration efficiency, metabolism and excretion of alkaloids in poison frogs and their non-sequestering relatives

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Current appointment: Post-doctoral Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley

Research interests: My research focuses mainly on chemical defense and its ecological and evolutionary implications. Currently, my PhD research aims to understand some of the mechanisms that allow poison frogs to sequester alkaloids.

Jhon Jairo Ospina Sarria

Year of degree: 2018

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Análise filogenética das rãs de desenvolvimento direto (Anura, Terrarana, Craugastoridae)

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Katyuscia de Araujo Vieira

Year of degree: 2018

Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales / Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina

Project title: Phylogenetic analysis of the Scinax ruber clade (Anura, Hylidae): A highly diverse group of Neotropical tree frogs (primary advisor: Julián Faivovich)

Fellowship funding agency: CONICET

Current appointment: Researcher, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" / Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Denis Jacob Machado

Year of degree: 2018

Inter-institutional Graduate Program in Bioinformatics, USP

Project title: Comparative genomics and the evolution of amphibian chemical defense

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Current appointment: Assistant Professor, College of Computing and Informatics, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Pedro Henrique dos Santos Dias

Year of degree: 2018

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Evolution of larval characters in Dendrobatoidea Cope, 1865 (Amphibia; Anura; Dendrobatidae & Aromobatidae)

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Current appointment: Post-doctoral researcher, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum of Nature Hamburg , Germany

Rachel Montesinos Martins Pereira

Year of degree: 2017

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Sistemática filogenética de Hylodidae Günther 1858 (Amphibia, Anura)

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Current appointment: Post-doctoral Fellow, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Temporary Professor, Universidade de São Paulo

Mariane Targino Rocha

Year of degree: 2016

Project title: Análise filogenética de Pristimantis Jiménez de La Espada, 1870, um gênero megadiverso de anfíbios (Anura, Terrarana, Craugastoridae)

Project title: Análise filogenética de Pristimantis Jiménez de La Espada, 1870, um gênero megadiverso de anfíbios (Anura, Terrarana, Craugastoridae)

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Graduate program: Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Current appointment: Collection Manager, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Marco Antonio Rada García

Year of degree: 2014

Project title: Sistemática filogenetica das pererecas de cristal (Anura: Centrolenidae)

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Mauricio Rivera-Correa

Year of degree: 2014

Project title: Evolution of the Andean stream frogs Hyloscirtus (Anura: Hylidae): Phylogenetic relationships, taxonomic revision, and species delimitation

Fellowship funding agency: CNPq

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Current appointment: Curator, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional, Colombia

Wilmar Bolívar

Year of degree: 2013

Project title: Ecomorfología de vipéridos colombianos con énfasis en la morfología de la foseta termo receptora de especies con uso del hábitat distintos (Co-advisor: Alan Giraldo López)

Graduate program: Programa de Postgrado en Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

Current appointment: Investigador, Profesional y Profesor Catedrático del Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cai, Colombia

Patrick Colombo

Year of degree: 2012

Project title: Seqüestro e variação temporal e geográfica dos alcalóides na defesa química de Melanophryniscus simplex (Caramaschi e Cruz, 2002) (Anura: Bufonidae)

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Current appointment: Curador, Fundação Zoobotânica do Rio Grande do Sul, Museu de Ciências Naturais, Seção de Vertebrados–Setor de Anfíbios

Camila Chiamenti Both

Year of degree: 2012

Project title: Invasão de Lithobates catesbeianus no Brasil: padrões espaciais e interações inter-específicas

Fellowship funding agency: CNPq

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Current appointment: Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Campus Litoral Norte

Siria Ribeiro

Year of degree: 2010

Project title: Revisão sistemática de Leposternon Wagler, 1824 (Squamata: Amphisbaenia)

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Current appointment: Professor, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Santarém

Alfredo Pedroso dos Santos Júnior

Year of degree: 2009

Project title: Revisão taxonômica do grupo de Taeniophallus occipitalis e o relacionamento filogenético da tribo Echinantherini (Serpentes, Dipsadidae, Xenodontinae)

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Current appointment: Professor, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Santarém

Johannes Schultheis

Year of degree: 2025

Joint degree, University of Münster and Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: A newt hope: Combining RNA-Seq and machine-learning to unravel the evolution of tetrodotoxin (TTX) defense in Taricha granulosa

Funding agency: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)/German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Basil Minder

Year of degree: 2024

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Hydroxylation of PTX (+)-251D in Adelphobates galactonotus

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Research interests: I am interested in biochemical reactions and metabolism in poison frogs, as well as alkaloid chemistry. In my current project, I am applying the knowledge and experience I gained by working in chemical research and development in the pharmaceutical industry in several laboratories and companies over the last few years. “Chemical defense in anurans” combines the two worlds biology and chemistry in a wonderful way!

Juliana Fernandes Primon

Year of degree: 2023

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Effects of American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) acoustic invasions in native anuran communities

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Rafaela Christine Perez

Year of degree: 2022

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Heterochrony in eye development: a case study with Centrolene savagei (Anura, Centrolenidae)

Fellowship funding agency: CNPq

Isabela Rodrigues de Souza Cavalcanti

Year of degree: 2018

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Comparative morphological study of the swollen third finger of poison frogs and their relatives (Anura: Dendrobatoidea)

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen

Year of degree: 2018

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Análise da estrutura genética das populações de rã touro, Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw, 1802), introduzidas no Brasil

Current appointment: Pesquisador Adjunto, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Rafael dos Santos Henrique

Year of degree: 2017

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Project title: Ecologia do movimento da rã-manteiga (Leptodactylus latrans) e da rã-touro (Lithobates catesbeianus)

Camila Ineu Medeiros

Year of degree: 2016

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate program: Graduate Program in Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Project title: Avaliação da invasão de nicho acústico e diversidade funcional acústica em ambientes invadidos pela rã-touro Lithobates catesbeianus (primary advisors: Sandra Hartz, Camila Both)

Adriana Moriguchi Jeckel

Year of degree: 2015

Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Project title: Chemical defense in Melanophryniscus moreirae: does alkaloid diversity increase as individuals grow older?

Current appointment: PhD student, Graduate Program in Zoology, IBUSP

Valentina Zaffaroni Caorsi

Year of degree: 2014

Project title: Estudo taxonômico e filogeográfico de Melanophryniscus macrogranulosus Braun, 1973 e M. cambaraensis Braun & Braun, 1979 (Anura: Bufonidae), duas espécies ameaçadas de extinção do extremo sul da mata atlântica

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS (primary advisor: Marcio Borges-Martins)

Current appointment: PhD student, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Danielle Angelini Fabri

Year of degree: 2012

Project title: Sistemática filogenética de Crossodactylus Duméril & Bibron, 1841 (Anura: Hylodidae)

Fellowship funding agency: CNPq

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Santiago J. Sánchez-Pacheco

Year of degree: 2010

Project title: Sistemática filogenética do gênero Riama (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae)

Fellowship funding agency: CAPES

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS (primary advisor: Laura Verrastro)

Current appointment: PhD student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Canada (advisor: Robert Murphy)

Katyuscia de Araujo Vieira

Year of degree: 2010

Project title: A filogenia do gênero Sphaenorhynchus

Fellowship funding agency: CNPq

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Current appointment: Assistant Researcher, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" / Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Raquel Rocha Santos

Year of degree: 2010

Project title: Migração de Melanophryniscus cambaraensis (Anura, Bufonidae) no Município de São Francisco de Paula,Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Fellowship funding agency: CNPq

Graduate program: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Milena Lambert Rezende

Instituto Federal de São Paulo

Tenure: 2023–2024

Project title: Efficacy of the coloration of Brachycephalus rotenbergae (Anura: Brachycephalidae) as an aposematic signal for visually oriented predators

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Julia Albuquerque de Pinna

IBUSP

Tenure: 2021–2024

Project title: Do sympatric poison frogs (Anura: Dendrobatidae) have similar chemical defenses?

Fellowship funding agency: FAPESP

Esdras Matheus Gomes da Silva

Tenure: 2023–2025

Appointment: FAPESP Bolsa de Treinamento Técnico (TT-5): Enfrentando os Desafios Computacionais de uma Abordagem Multidisciplinar para o Estudo da Diversificação de Anfíbios

Marianna Silva Borburema

Tenure: 2024

Appointment: FAPESP Bolsa de Treinamento Técnico (TT3): Gestão de Tecidos, Bancos de Dados e Biologia Molecular

Max Hideki Oliveira Homma

Tenure: 2023–2024

Appointment: FAPESP Bolsa de Treinamento Técnico (TT3): coleta, preparação, manutenção de base de dados de espécimes e criação de animais vivos

Daniela Cristina Wilwert

Tenure: 2021

Appointment: FAPESP Bolsa de Treinamento Técnico (TT3): coleta, preparação, manutenção de base de dados de espécimes e criação de animais vivos

Clarissa Garbi Molinari

Tenure: 2019–2021

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): DNA Sequencing and Databasing

Isabela Rodrigues de Souza Cavalcanti

Tenure: 2019–2021

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): Specimen Collection, Preparation, Databasing, and Live Animal Husbandry

Rachel Montesinos Martins Pereira

Tenure: 2017–2018

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): DNA Sequencing and Databasing

Julia Silva Beneti

Tenure: 2017–2018

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): DNA Sequencing and Databasing

Gabriel J. Cohen

Tenure: 2018

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): Specimen Preparation and Databasing

Current appointment: Pesquisador Adjunto, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia

Rafael dos Santos Henrique

Tenure: 2014, 2017

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): Specimen Preparation and Databasing

Ana Paula Brandão

Tenure: 2015

Appointment: Bolsista de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico Industrial do CNPq - Nível C: Databasing MZUSP Amphibian Collection

Carolina Rossi

Tenure: 2015-2016

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): DNA Sequencing and Databasing

Juliana Costa Jordão

Tenure: 2013–2015

Appointment: FAPESP Technical Training Scholarship (TT3): DNA Sequencing and Databasing