Rachel Keeffe, PhD

Postdoctoral researcher @mtholyoke studying the functional morphology and evolution of reptiles and amphibians | Views are my own | she/her/hers

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@DianeAKelly Thanks Diane!! I could talk about frogs forever haha!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@SnipesChelsie @iobjournal @BioBlobs @davidcblackburn @c_mayerl @mbutler808 @ThSanger @NoahwithFish @Sternarchella @marmmunoz @SICB_SPDAC @manakin_man @armanafzadeh @jmhuiee Yes of course! Happy to chat anytime! A hyoid that small would be difficult to work with, but not impossible depending on the morphology--let's definitely chat!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

Check out how far back the tongue tip (gold sphere) reaches during swallowing in cane toads! What does this mean for our understanding of frog feeding? Read more about this cool behavior here: https://t.co/nLKrKK0J8D

[Florida Museum @FloridaMuseum]

Beyond the party horn tongue 🥳🐸 @rmkeeffe and team x-rayed cane toads' feeding behavior to document the complex pulley system of cartilage and muscle that travels so far down their throat, it butts up against their heart.
Story:
https://t.co/kTf7fh1lA9

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

I'm excited to share our recent publication in @iobjournal on feeding mechanics in toads! Think you know frog tongues? There is a lot more to them than meets the eye!

[[email protected] @iobjournal]

"#XROMM Analysis of Feeding #Mechanics in #Toads: Interactions of the Tongue, Hyoid, and Pectoral Girdle "

by @rmkeeffe , @BioBlobs , @davidcblackburn , @c_mayerl

https://t.co/m9WxBAxXXi

#evolution #kinematics #sciencetwitter #biology #WomenInStem #organisms

[Christopher Mayerl @c_mayerl]

The Mayerl lab at @NAU is hiring! We're looking to recruit a graduate student and postdoc interested in #Physiology , #feeding , and #biomechanics. Check out the lab website or message for more https://t.co/ZGIGEWoeVB

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@CollinVanBuren Wow you looked at so many taxa! Interesting that syncervicals occur in fossorial mammals and reptiles but not in forward-burrowing frogs (to my knowledge). Although, frogs don't have that many vertebrae to spare!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@CollinVanBuren That is so cool Collin! What kind of bone fusion did you study?

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

New paper on the function of bone fusion in the frog forelimb (authored by myself and @davidcblackburn) is now open access in the Journal of Anatomy! Frog arms still have a lot to teach us about frog evolution, come check it out! https://t.co/wuAHwHqwwz

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@jmhuiee @davidcblackburn Can't thank you enough for developing SegmentGeometry, @jmhuiee! It was exactly what we needed to round out our FEA paper. Excited to keep using it in future projects!

[Florida Museum @FloridaMuseum]

A new study by @rmkeeffe + @davidcblackburn indicates the way frogs mate and fight may hold a missing clue to their mysterious skeletal evolution.
💪🐸
https://t.co/1ezULmBx29

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

Thank you so much everyone! I am so grateful to everyone who supported me along the way!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

I am pleased to announce that I passed my PhD defense yesterday! Starting this fall I will be joining @sexinnature at Mount Holyoke College as a postdoc--I am so excited to work with Patty on her project investigating genital coevolution in snakes!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

My defense seminar is happening this Friday at 12PM - 1PM EST! Tune in if you'd like to learn about why frog arms, tongues, and hyoids are so amazing!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@fmsilva1984 Thanks Fernanda!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

We know the frog tongue is great at stretching out to catch food, but what happens after the mouth is closed? Come check out my #SICB+ talk to find out! Exciting XROMM animations and videos abound, and transcripts are included! #SICB2022

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@jaimiAgray Thanks Jaimi! And if folks are interested in cool frog morphology they should definitely also check out @jaimiAgray's excellent endocast talk! #SICB2022

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@Fishy_Hayes Thanks so much Malorie! We're super excited to share our results, so glad to see others are excited too!

[Rachel Keeffe, PhD @rmkeeffe]

@Fishguy_FHL @sexinnature Thanks Adam! I just saw @sexinnature's awesome #JMIH2021 talk on watersnakes, super interesting work! Always happy to chat!