The Reptile and Aquatics team provides the Institute’s research staff with the highest quality laboratory animal care and support services for non-mammalian species.
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Publications
The Reptile and Aquatics facility works with a wide variety of animal species to support the diverse research being conducted at the Institute. A knowledgeable, experienced, and trained staff provide specialized husbandry and technical services for each species. The facility is fully accredited with AAALAC International and all housing, husbandry practices, and veterinary care for the animals are in compliance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, as well as all other institutional, state, and local regulations.
Species currently housed include:
Our staff offer a wide variety of technical services based on the needs of the research programs supported. These include colony management, animal identification, breeding, embryo harvest, tissue sampling, genotyping, histology preparation, in vitro fertilization, cryopreservation, and the creation of genetically modified lines.
Invertebrates
The Invertebrate Team is comprised of skilled and dedicated members devoted to providing the utmost care of the aquatic invertebrate animals studied at the Institute. We are on-site seven days a week to provide animal husbandry and technical services.
Cavefish: Otherwise known as the blind Mexican cavefish, this fish is proving to be useful in studying the genetic basis of developmental and behavioral evolution. These cavefish derived from surface fish populations that became geographically isolated in at least 29 different caves, independently evolving for millions of years.
Zebrafish: The Zebrafish team provides animal husbandry coverage and technical services seven days a week.
The Reptile Facility provides the institute’s research staff with the highest quality laboratory animal care and support services for reptilian species. Specialized husbandry is provided for a wide variety of animal species.
Reptile Species currently housed include:
Whiptail lizards (Aspidoscelis spp.)
In The News
24 February 2023
From Scientific American, by tuning the enzymes that control the breakdown or storage of sugars, hummingbirds and cavefish adapt their metabolism to meet the demands of the vastly different environments in which they live
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In The News
02 February 2023
From the Washington Post, a species of fish washed by floods into dark Mexican caves has been essentially sheltering in place for the last 160,000 years, undergoing genetic changes that reset its metabolism.
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Press Release
24 January 2023
Researchers have discovered what prolonged physical inactivity may mean for humans many thousands of years down the road by studying cavefish.
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In The News
18 November 2022
From Stat News, Nectar bats may have nature’s biggest sweet tooth. Each night, the creatures scour the jungle for blossoming flowers in order to consume as much as 150% of their body weight in liquid sugar.
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Laboratory Fish in Biomedical Research
Baumann DP, Ingalls I. Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus): biology, husbandry, and experimental protocols. In: 1st Edition, L D'Angelo, P de Girolamoeds. Elsevier Inc.; 2022:311-347
CRISPR-Cas13d Induces Efficient mRNA Knockdown in Animal Embryos
Kushawah G, Hernandez-Huertas L, Abugattas-Nunez Del Prado J, Martinez-Morales JR, DeVore ML, Hassan H, Moreno-Sanchez I, Tomas-Gallardo L, Diaz-Moscoso A, Monges DE, Guelfo JR, Theune WC, Brannan EO, Wang W, Corbin TJ, Moran AM, Sanchez Alvarado A, Malaga-Trillo E, Takacs CM, Bazzini AA, Moreno-Mateos MA. Dev Cell. 2020;54:805-817 e807.
Gamete collection and in vitro fertilization of Astyanax mexicanus
Peuss R, Zakibe Z, Krishnan J, Merryman MS, Baumann DP, Rohner N. J Vis Exp. 2019. doi: 10.3791/59334.
Management of animal care and use programs in research, education, and testing
O'Rourke DP, Cox JD, Baumann DP. Nontraditional Species. In: 2nd Edition, RH Weichbrod, GAH Thompson, and JN Norton, eds. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2018:579-596.
Captive Care, Raising, and Breeding of the Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus).
Diaz RE, Jr., Anderson CV, Baumann DP, Kupronis R, Jewell D, Piraquive C, Kupronis J, Winter K, Greek TJ, Trainor PA. Cold Spring Harb Protoc. 2015;10:943-9
Cole JC, Taylor HL, Baumann DP, Baumann P. Breviora. 2014:1-19.
