Amanda Cass

Education
AB, Mt Holyoke College, 2004
PhD, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, 2014

Postdoctoral:
North Carolina State University 2014-2016

Research Interests:

I am an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in the developmental mechanisms that generate morphological novelty, particularly in ray-finned fishes. My research has used a variety of techniques to characterize gene expression patterns and to test hypotheses about the connections between gene regulatory network evolution and morphological diversity.  In recent years I have deemphasized my research program and focused on my work with students in the lab and classroom.   I am particularly passionate about teaching vertebrate anatomy, genetics, and introductory biology as well as developing course-based undergraduate research experiences in these areas.

Representative Publications: 

Hyman, O., Cass, A., Enke, R., Storm, A., Nash, B. (2024). Cost-Effective DNA Extraction for DNA Barcoding Diverse Biological Samples. In: DeSalle, R. (eds) DNA Barcoding. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2744. Humana, New York, NY. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3581-0_7

Tzung KW, Lalonde R , Prummel K, Mahabaleshwar H., Moran H.R., Stundl J, Cass AN, Le Y., Lea R, Dorey K., Tomecka M, Zhang C, Brombacher E, White W, Roehl H, Tulenko F, Currie P, Amaya E, Davis M, Bronner M, C Mossiman & Carney T.  2023. A median fin derived from the lateral plate mesoderm and the origin of paired fins. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06100-w.

Hawkins MB, Jandzik D, Tulenko FJ, Cass AN, Nakamura T, Shubin NH, Davis MC & DW Stock. 2022. An Fgf-Shh positive feedback loop drives growth in developing unpaired fins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119 (10): e2120150119.  DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2120150119.

Cass AN, Elias A, Fudala ML, Knick BD, & MC Davis. 2021. Conserved mechanisms, novel anatomies: the developmental basis of fin evolution and the origin of limbs. Diversity 13: 384. DOI: 10.3390/d13080384.

Darnet S, Dragalzew AC, Amaral DB, Thompson AW, Cass AN, Lorena J, Sousa JF, Costa CM, Sousa MP, Froebisch NB, Schneider PN, Davis MC, Braasch I & I Schneider.  Deep evolutionary origin of limb and fin regeneration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 (30): 15106-15115. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1900475116.