Publications
Dr. Rafael de Sa
Professor of Biology
Profile
Systematics and phylogenetic reconstruction using morphological molecular approaches. Primary research focuses on systematics, evolution, and development of amphibians and reptiles. Sexual selection and evolution in freshwater fishes.
Grants and Fellowships
Grants: National Science Council of Spain, "Genetic and Bioacoustic Characterization of Endemic Threatened Species in a Biodiversity Hotspot: The Amphibians of the Tropical Andes."
Revision of the poorly known frog genus Chiasmocleis (Anura, Microhylidae). National Science Foundation. Initiated in 2012.
Using sequencing in undergraduate research. 2004. LI-Cor Genomics Education Matching Funds Program.
Diversity beyond morphology: A revision of the frog genus Leptodactylus (Amphibia, Anura, Leptodactylidae). 2004-2008. National Science Foundation.
Bringing Evolution into the curriculum for non-science majors at the University of Richmond. 2004. Association of Colleges of the South.
Evolutionary relationships within the Neotropical genus Leptodactylus. 2000-2004 National Science Foundation.
A molecular phylogeny of the frog genus Leptodactylus. 1998-2000. Thomas F. Jeffress and Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust.
Timing of musculoskeletal development: A 3-dimensional approach to the analysis of form. 1995-1998 National Science Foundation.
Molecular Evolution: Integration of Theory and Practice. 1994-1996 National Science Foundation.
Awards
Distinguished Educator, University of Richmond.
Distinguished Visiting Professor. National Museum of Natural History, Paris.
Selected Publications
Articles
Larson*, P. and R. O. de Sá. 1998. Chondrocranial morphology of Leptodactylus larvae (Leptodactylidae: Leptodactylinae): its utility in phylogenetic reconstruction. Journal of Morphology 238:287-305.
* denotes student author
de Sá, R. O. and C. Swart*. 1999. Development of the suprarostral plate of pipoid frogs. Journal of Morphology 240:143-153.
* denotes student author
Camargo*, A., de Sá, R. O. and W.R. Heyer. 2006. Phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA sequences reveal three cryptic lineages in the widespread neotropical frog Leptodactylus fuscus (Schneider, 1799) (Anura, Leptodactylidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 87: 325-341.
* denotes student author
de Sá, R., W.R. Heyer, and A. Camargo*. 2005. A phylogenetic analysis of Vanzolinius (Amphibia, Anura, Leptodactylidae): Taxonomic and life histroy implications. Arquivos do Museu de Historia Natural do Rio de Janeiro, 63(4):1-20.
*denotes student author
Frost, D., R., T. Grant, J. Faivovich, R. H. Bain, A. Haas, C. F.B. Haddad, R. O. de Sá, A. Channing, M. Wilkinson, S.C. Donnellan, C. J. Raxworthy, J. A. Campbell, B. L. Blotto, P. Moler, R. C. Drewes, R. A. Nussbaum, J. D. Lynch, D. M. Green, and W. C. Wheeler. 2006. The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 297:1-370, +71 figs, 5 tbls, 7 Append.
Yanek*, K., W.R. Heyer, and R. O de Sá. 2006. Genetic resolution of the enigmatic Lesser Antillean distribution of the frog Leptodactylus validus (Anura, Leptodactylidae). South American Journal of Herpetology 1(3):192-201.
* denotes student author
Greenbaum, E., E.N. Smith, R.O. de Sá. 2011. Molecular systematics of the Middle American genus Hypopachus (Anura: Microhylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61:265-277.
Heyer, W.R. and R. O. de Sá. 2011. Variation, Systematics, and Relationships of the Leptodactylus bolivianus Complex (Amphibia: Anura: Leptodactylidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 635:1-58.
Streicher, J. W., Cox, C. L., Campbell, J.A., Smith, E. N., and de Sá, R. O. 2012 Rapid range expansion in the Great Plains narrow-mouthed toad (Gastrophryne olivacea) and a revised taxonomy for North American microhylids. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64(2012):645-653.
Education
Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin 1991
M.Sc., The University of Kansas 1987
B.Sc., University of Uruguay
Contact Information
B115 Gottwald Science Center
(804) 289-8542
(804) 289-8233 (Fax)