Home Contact Me Education Research Publications Links Teaching Oil Business Sign My Guestbook View My Guestbook Current Research Iowa Herpetology Analysis of the past, present, and potential future distributions of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Iowa Reproduction and other factors impacting survival of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Iowa See JLC Bibliography for published works on various Iowa species       A summary of this work to-date will appear shortly in an in-depth treatment, a book estimated to be 500-600pp., " The Amphibians and Reptiles of Iowa" by J.L. CHRISTIANSEN. J.R PARMELEE, and R.M. BAILEY. Note that this book has benefited from the contribution of many of my students at Drake University, and especially the ongoing contribution of NEIL BERNSTEIN and TERRY VANDEWALLE, two dedicated Iowa researchers.   KAREN WILLIAMS continued to conduct surveys for dead specimens on the roads of Iowa for many years and made a great contribution to the Drake University Research Collection (DURC).   Many specimens were contributed by JEFF LECLERE, a Minnesota resident who will soon have his own field guide to Iowa's amphibians and reptiles in print.   We wish him the best for his publication.   Sample photographs from the book appear below.   For others, see the photographic atlas of Iowa Herpetology. Click on the Photo to Enlarge Adaptations of the Yellow Mud Turtle, Kinosternon flavescens throughout its range       We have spent over 30 years on studies of a marked population in Eastern Iowa, currently with Dr. Neil Bernstein.   Here we are examining growth, survival, and factors contributing to the decline of the race K. f. spooneri.   We are also accumulating data suggesting that the Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois populations are a valid distinct race of K. f. flavescens shown below. West Texas Turtle Study       Ongoing studies in Presidio and Jeff Davis Counties in West Texas with specific objectives of analysis of reproductive and behavioral adaptations to aridity.  Here Dr. Travis LaDuc and I have learned that the annual activity cycle and the reproductive cycle differ greatly from the yellow mud turtles of Iowa and Nebraska.  Combined with the excellent work of John Iverson, we have a database almost unequaled for such a wide-ranging species.   See JLC publications for published studies in New Mexico and Iowa. A Phylogenetic Analysis of Melanomacrophages       Fifteen years of work with Dr. James Johnson has shown that these melanin-producing macrophages (MM) are found in fishes, amphibians, and most reptiles. They are absent in advanced mammals.   We have learned that they are functional at very low temperatures, unlike mammalian macrophages and are probably a significant part of reptilian immune system's defense against slow-growing infections at very low temperatures.  When in the evolutionary scheme did these cells disappear?   We are examining livers of old individuals of as many taxa as possible to answer this question. Research Interests The Biology of threatened and endangered species. The amphibians and reptiles of Iowa. The aging process in mammals, reptiles and other lower vertebrates. Reptilian immune systems and adaptation to cold. Genetic consequences of inbreeding in isolated terrestrial turtle populations. Programs for the mapping and recovery of rare and endangered amphibians and reptiles; The reproductive parameters of diverse populations of Kinosternon flavescens. Reptile and amphibian parasites. Mid continent oil formation and distribution.