Office: Weyandt 18
E-mail: Josiah.Townsend@iup.edu
Telephone: 724-357-2587
Office Hours
Education
Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology – University of Florida (2011)
M.A. in Latin American Studies (Tropical Conservation & Development) – University of Florida (2006)
B.Sc. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation – University of Florida (2004)
A.A. in Biology – Miami-Dade Community College (2000)
Field
Systematics, Tropical Conservation, Evolutionary Biogeography, and Herpetology
Interests
My research emphasizes the inherit connections between systematic biology and conservation and integrates phylogenetics, morphological systematics, population genetics, and macroecological modeling into a framework that uses taxonomic inventory and monitoring to promote education and extension in support of broader conservation goals. I have an active interdisciplinary research program in northern Central America, focusing on herpetofaunal diversity and conservation in poorly-studied and highly threatened montane cloud forests, and driven by fieldwork in remote and isolated locations. As a goal of the “Barcoding the Herpetofauna of Eastern Nuclear Central America” initiative, we have worked with the Smithsonian Institution’s Laboratory of Analytical Biology and Division of Herpetology to generate a DNA reference dataset for over 1,500 samples of Mesoamerican amphibians and reptiles, revealing a remarkable amount of previously unrecognized evolutionary and taxonomic diversity. To date, this work led to the description of more than a dozen new species from Central America, with literally dozens more phylogenetically-delimited candidate species under investigation in my lab.
Current projects include: uncovering and characterizing cryptic diversity in tropical salamanders, particularly those in understudied groups such as moss salamanders (genus Nototriton); revising the systematics of Mesoamerican true frogs (Ranidae) using multiple lines of evidence, including mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, morphology of adults and tadpoles, bioacoustic analysis of male breeding calls, an macroecological modeling; studying a poorly-known clade of highland palm-pitvipers that contains multiple undescribed lineages; and provide a broad characterization of patterns of evolutionary diversification in the Chortis Highlands Biogeographic Province of northern Central America.
Extension is an important component of my research activities, including the dissemination of research-based bilingual content to audiences ranging from elementary school students to governmental officials to international scientific conferences, through media such as public presentations, newspaper articles, and television interviews. The active participation, engagement, and exchange of information with local stakeholders are vital aspects for the long-term success of a field-based research program, internationally as well as locally. The support, training, and collaboration of parataxonomists and community-based park guards, facilitated through workshops and participation in research activities, are integral to bridging the gap between researchers and communities. In my lab we also emphasize the importance of making scientific results more accessible to local stakeholders through the design and distribution of effective interpretive and educational materials.
Publications
Books
- Wilson LD, JH Townsend, and JD Johnson (eds.). 2010. Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publications, LC. Eagle Mountain, Utah. xviii + 812 pp.
- Townsend JH, and LD Wilson. 2008. Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Cusuco National Park, Honduras / Guía de los Anfibios y Reptiles de Parque Nacional Cusuco, Honduras. Bibliomania!, Salt Lake City, Utah. xiv + 322 pp.
- McCranie JR, JH Townsend, and LD Wilson. 2006. The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Honduran Mosquitia. Krieger Publishing Co., Malabar, Florida. x+291 pp.
Peer-reviewed Papers
- Townsend JH, LD Wilson, M Medina-Flores, E Aguilar-Urbina, BK Atkinson, CA Cerrato M., A Contreras-C., LN Gray, LA Herrera-B., IR Luque-M., M McKewy- Mejía, A Portillo-A., AL Stubbs, and JD Austin. 2012. A premontane hotspot of herpetofaunal endemism on the windward side of Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, Honduras. Salamandra 48(2): 92–114.
- Jadin RC, JH Townsend, TA Castoe, and JA Campbell. 2012. Cryptic diversity in disjunct populations of Middle American Montane Pitvipers: a systematic reassessment of Cerrophidion godmani. Zoologica Scripta 41(5): 455–470. DOI: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00547
- Talley BL, LD Wilson, and JH Townsend. 2012. Effectiveness of leaf litterbags for sampling stream-breeding anurans: tadpole distribution, composition, and use. Herpetological Review 43(1): 55–59.
- Sunyer J, JH Townsend, DB Wake, SL Travers, SC Gonzalez, LA Obando, and AZ Quintana. 2011. A cryptic new species of Oedipina (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from premontane elevations in northern Nicaragua, with comments on the systematic status of the Nicaraguan paratypes of O. pseudouniformis Brame, 1968. Breviora 526: 1–16.
- Townsend JH, M Medina-Flores, JL Murillo, and JD Austin. 2011. Cryptic diversity in Chortís Highland moss salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Nototriton) revealed using mtDNA barcodes and phylogenetics, with a new species from eastern Honduras. Systematics and Biodiversity 9(3): 275–287. DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2011.611188
- McCranie JR, and JH Townsend. 2011. Description of a new species of worm salamander (Caudata, Plethodontidae, Oedipina) in the subgenus Oedopinola from the central portion of the Cordillera Nombre de Dios, Honduras. Zootaxa 2990: 59–68.
- Townsend JH, LD Wilson, César A. Cerrato M., BK Atkinson, LA Herrera-B., and M McKewy Mejía. 2011. Discovery of the critically endangered treefrog Plectrohyla chrysopleura in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texiguat, Honduras. Herpetological Bulletin 115: 22–25.
- Townsend JH, IR Luque-Montes, and LD Wilson. 2011. Newly-discovered populations of four threatened endemic salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the highlands of Honduras. Salamandra 47(1): 50–54.
- Travers SL, JH Townsend, Javier Sunyer, LA Obando, and LD Wilson. 2011. New and noteworthy records of amphibians and reptiles from Reserva de la Biósfera Bosawas, Nicaragua. Herpetological Review 42(3): 399–403.
- Sunyer J, DB Wake, JH Townsend, SL Travers, SM Rovito, TJ Papenfuss, and LA Obando. 2010. A new species of worm salamander (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Oedipina) in the subgenus Oeditriton from the highlands of northern Nicaragua. Zootaxa 2613: 29–39.
- Townsend JH, JM Butler, LD Wilson, and JD Austin. 2010. A distinctive new species of moss salamander (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Nototriton) from an imperiled endemism hotspot in Honduras. Zootaxa 2434: 1–16.
- Travers SL, and JH Townsend. 2010. Myiasis on a Neotropical leaf frog, Agalychnis saltator Taylor, 1955. Herpetology Notes 3:355–357.
- Townsend JH, LA Herrera-B., Melissa Medina-Flores, LN Gray, AL Stubbs, and LD Wilson. 2010. Notes on the second male specimen of the cryptozoic snake Geophis damiani Wilson, McCranie, & Williams 1998 (Squamata: Colubridae: Dipsadinae). Herpetology Notes 3: 305–308.
- Townsend JH. 2009. Morphological variation in Geophis nephodrymus (Squamata: Colubridae), with comments on the conservation of Geophis in eastern Nuclear Central America. Herpetologica 65(3): 292–302. DOI:
- Townsend JH, JM Butler, LD Wilson, and JD Austin. 2009. A new species in the Bolitoglossa dunni group (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from Parque Nacional Montaña de Yoro, Honduras. Salamandra 45(2): 95–105.
- Townsend JH, and LD Wilson. 2009. New species of cloud forest Anolis (Squamata: Polychrotidae) of the crassulus group from Parque Nacional Montaña de Yoro, Honduras. Copeia 2009(1): 62–70. DOI:
- Luque-Montes IR, and JH Townsend. 2009. Geographic Distribution. Ninia espinali (Espinal’s Coffee Snake). Herpetological Review 40(4): 457.
- Sunyer J, JH Townsend, LD Wilson, SL Travers, LA Obando, G Paiz, and DM Griffith. 2009. Three new country records of reptiles from Nicaragua. Salamandra 45(3): 186–190.
- Townsend JH, LD Wilson, LP Ketzler, and IR Luque-Montes. 2008. The largest blindsnake in Mesoamerica: a new species of Typhlops (Squamata: Typhlopidae) from an isolated karstic mountain in Honduras. Zootaxa 1932: 18–26.
- Townsend JH, LD Wilson, IR Luque-Montes, and LP Ketzler. 2008. Redescription of Anolis rubribarbaris (Köhler, McCranie, & Wilson 1999), a poorly known Mesoamerican cloud forest anole (Squamata: Polychrotidae). Zootaxa 1918: 39–44.
- García-Moreno J, R Moore, G Santos-Barrera, N Urbina-Carbona, A Muñoz, P Walker, Z Walker, C Vásquez-Almazán, JH Townsend, R Jiménez, A Upgren, J Barborak, and JR Bonilla-Barbosa. 2008. Una visión del estado de los anfibios críticamente amenazados del norte de Centroamérica y los sitios en los que habitan. Mesoamericana 12(1): 37–40.
- Venegas PJ, JH Townsend, C Koch, and W Böhme. 2008. Two new sympatric species of leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: Phyllodactylus) from the Balsas region of the upper Marañon Valley, Peru. Journal of Herpetology 42(2): 386–396. DOI:
