Dave Blackburn’s research is focused on understanding the amphibian diversity of sub-Saharan Africa. Eight of the earth’s 34 biodiversity hotspots occur in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, and several of these are also ‘hotspots’ of amphibian diversity. These places include the Guinean Forests of West and Central Africa, the Rift Valley Mountains, and the Eastern Arc Mountains.

Within Africa, the Republic of Cameroon has an incredible number of amphibian species (nearly 200!). The lowland and montane forests of Cameroon contain an amount of amphibian diversity unrivaled elsewhere in Africa, with more families of amphibians and both more species and more endemic species per area than any other African country. Dave’s research aims to enhance our understanding of the biology and evolution of African amphibians. Because Cameroon has such amazing amphibian diversity, it is an excellent country in which to work!

The Bamboutos Foothills in Cameroon
Photo D.C. Blackburn

Dave’s PhD thesis research focuses on one family of frogs (the Arthroleptidae) that are found only in sub-Saharan Africa. This family has medium sized frogs and very tiny frogs (some less than 15 mm long). Some species have tadpoles, but the majority have lost the tadpole stage. Instead, they hatch directly from terrestrial eggs as tiny froglets! There is one group, the genus Cardioglossa, that are colorful and has tadpoles, and nearly all of the species in this group are found in Cameroon. During July and August, one focus of Dave’s fieldwork will be to find species of this poorly known group in Cameroon’s lowland and montane forests. He will also concentrate on finding other amphibians that are only known from the Cameroonian mountains.

The field expedition to Cameroon is funded in part by a Putnam Expeditionary Grant from Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology