Greetings Cavers, We meet again this coming Wednesday, July 3rd at 7:30 pm at The High Road on Dawson - 700 Dawson Road, Austin, TX 78704, off Barton Springs Road. Please, no outside food or beverages. They have happy hours from 5-7 pm for $2-$3 beers, otherwise beer is $3-$4 and a burger with fries is $5. Arrive early to order! You don't need to be a member of the UT Grotto to attend this presentation - you can learn how to become a member at the meeting, if that interests you. You can also learn about more caving opportunities locally, and throughout the world.
Liz Herren will present some photos from the recent NCRC training on the greenbelt, and give an update on the new exploration at Whirlpool Cave! Our featured speaker for the evening is Ruben Tovar, a Ph.D. student of Dr. David Hillis’ lab atThe University of Texas. He will present *“Crossing to the dark side”*, *A story of caves and convergent evolution: *The Texas *Eurycea *clade, is a group of fourteen closely related salamanders. Interestingly, this group has had multiple invasions of subterranean habitats including caves and deep aquifers, while their counterparts inhabit surface springs. Cave salamanders exhibit subterranean characteristics, including reduced eyes and elongated limbs, while surface salamanders exhibit well developed eyes. Together with multiple cave and spring salamander populations, and their opposing characteristics provide an ideal platform to examine the evolution of subterranean convergence. He integrates different methods including microCT scans, and next generation DNA sequencing to understand if similar molecular and developmental underpinnings are responsible for repeated eye loss in the central Texas *Eurycea* clade. Kara Savvas UTG Vice President
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