• Title Professor of Biology; Professor of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
  • Education PhD, University of Texas at Austin
  • Web Address http://sites.bu.edu/warkentinlab/
  • Phone 617-358-2385
  • Area of Interest phenotypic plasticity; integrative and comparative biology; adaptive embryo behavior; hatching as a life history transition; substrate vibration as an information channel; herpetology; tropical biology; sex, gender and sexuality; diversity and inclusion as imperatives for scientific progress
  • CV

Current Research

Most of the research in the Warkentin lab examines developing organisms in ecological and evolutionary context. We focus on hatching as a critical life history transition, working with embryos that adaptively alter when they exit the egg capsule in response to cues of risk and opportunity. We integrate approaches from behavior, ecology, physiology, and developmental and evolutionary biology to better understand embryos, and use embryos to address general questions in animal behavior. We combine biology and mechanical engineering to design devices enabling new kinds of experiments in embryo behavior.

We work in the Neotropics on red-eyed treefrogs, hourglass treefrogs, and glassfrogs –representing three lineages of frogs that independently evolved arboreal eggs and retained aquatic tadpoles – and on foam-nesting frogs that vary in the terrestriality of their eggs. Our work addresses ecology, evolution, and mechanisms of plasticity, interactions of embryos with predators and parents, and developmental changes in embryo behavior.

Prof. Warkentin is also working toward a better understanding of sexual diversity by synthesizing perspectives from developmental and evolutionary biology.

Selected Publications

  • Lisondro-Arosemena A., Salazar-Nicholls M.J., and Warkentin K.M. (2024). Elevated ammonia cues hatching in red-eyed treefrogs: A mechanism for escape from drying eggs. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B:jez.b.23253.
  • Güell B.A., McDaniel J.G., and Warkentin K.M. (2024). Egg-clutch biomechanics affect escape-hatching behavior and performance. Integrative Organismal Biology 6:obae006.
  • Güell B.A. and Warkentin K.M. (2023). To hatch and hatch not: does heterochrony in onset of vestibular mechanosensing explain species differences in escape-hatching success of Agalychnis embryos in snake attacks? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 77:141.
  • Méndez-Narváez J. and Warkentin K.M. (2023). Early onset of urea synthesis and ammonia detoxification pathways in three terrestrially developing frogs. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 193:523–543.
  • Guevara-Molina E.C., Ribeiro Gomes F., and Warkentin K.M. (2022). Heat-induced hatching of red-eyed treefrog embryos: Hydration and clutch structure increase behavioral thermal tolerance. Integrative Organismal Biology 4:obac041.
  • Warkentin K.M., Jung J., and McDaniel J.G. (2022). Research approaches in mechanosensory-cued hatching. In Biotremology: Physiology, Ecology, and Evolution. Animal Signals and Communication (eds) Hill P.S.M., Mazzoni V., Stritih Peljhan N., Virant-Doberlet M., Wessel A.:157–201.
  • Jung J., Serrano-Rojas S.J., and Warkentin K.M. (2020). Multimodal mechanosensing enables treefrog embryos to escape egg predators. Journal of Experimental Biology 223:jeb236141.
  • Delia J., Bravo-Valencia L., and Warkentin K.M. (2020). The evolution of extended parental care in glassfrogs: Do egg-clutch phenotypes mediate coevolution between the sexes? Ecological Monographs 90:e01411.

    Courses Taught:

    • WS 101: Gender and Sexuality I: An Interdisciplinary Introduction
    • BI 506: Phenotypic Plasticity
    • BI 507: Diversity of Sex
    • BI 581/582: Seminar in Biology

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