# James Hanken Research Professor of Biology Professor of Biology, Emeritus ![James Hanken, with short grey hair and beard, wearing glasses and smiling in front of a wall of antlers](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/oeb/files/james_hanken.jpeg?itok=JULddzMJ) location\_on The Museum of Comparative Zoology26 Oxford StreetCambridge, MA 02138 email laptop\_windows [Hanken Lab](http://hankenlab.oeb.harvard.edu/) Faculty Support: [Bridget Power](/people/bridget-power) Prof. Hanken utilizes laboratory-based analyses and field surveys to examine morphological evolution, developmental biology and systematics. Active areas of research include the developmental basis of morphological novelty and life-history evolution, the systematics and evolution of Neotropical and Southeast Asian frogs and salamanders, and collections-based digital imaging. Together with students, postdoctoral fellows and other collaborators he has discovered and formally described more than 45 species of living amphibians. He came to the MCZ in 1999 and served as Director from 2002 to 2021. Current work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. **Recent Publications:** Paluh, D. J., M. Brinkman, K. Gilliam-Beale, D. Salcedo-Recio, J. Szafranski, **J. Hanken** and G. J. Fraser. 2025. The metamorphic transition of the frog mouth: from tadpole keratinized mouthparts to adult teeth. *Royal Society Open Science.* Accepted for publication. **Hanken, J.** 2025. Subterranean salamanders lean into mechanical sense following vision loss. *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America* 122: e2512732122. Edwards, S. V., **J. Hanken**, N. H. Shubin and J. Liu. 2024. David B. Wake. *Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society* 165: 165–173. **Hanken J**., W. E. Bemis, P. Cervantes, M. Gage, S. Turney and J. Woodward. 2024. The R. Glenn Northcutt Collection of Comparative Vertebrate Neuroanatomy and Embryology: A novel museum-based resource for neuroscience and evolutionary biology. *Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology* 163: 473–505. [DOI: 10.3099/MCZ84](https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ84) Biju, S. D., S. Garg, G. Gokulakrishnan, C. Sivaperuman, R. Upadhyaya K., M. A. Bee and **J. Hanken**. 2024. Tree holes to trash: A unique upside-down terrestrial spawning behavior and its unnatural alterations in *Minervarya charlesdarwini* (Anura, Dicroglossidae), with report of male agonistic interactions and complex mating calls. *Breviora* 577: 1–33. . Blackburn, D. C., D. M. Boyer, J. A. Gray, J. Winchester, J. M. Bates, S. L. Baumgart et al. 2024. Increasing the impact of vertebrate scientific collections through 3D imaging: the OpenVertebrate (oVert) Thematic Collections Network. *Bioscience* 74: 169–186. Martins, B. da C., A. T. Mônico, C. Mendonça, S. P. Dantas, J. R. D. Souza, **J. Hanken**, A. P. Lima and M. Ferrão. 2024. A new species of foam-nesting frog (Anura: Leptodactylidae: *Adenomera*) belonging to the *Adenomera simonstuarti* complex from white-sand forests of central Amazonia, Brazil. *Zoosystematics and Evolution* 100: 233–253. Ferrão, M., **J. Hanken**, F. H. Oda, K. M. Campião, M. Penhacek, S. Anjos and D. J. Rodrigues. 2024. A new snouted treefrog (Anura, Hylidae, *Scinax*) from fluvial islands of the Juruena River, southern Brazilian Amazonia. *PLoS One* 19(1): e0292441. Bredeson, J. V., A. B. Mudd, S. Medina-Ruiz, T. Mitros, O. K. Smith, K. E. Miller et al. 2024. Conserved chromatin and repetitive patterns reveal slow genome evolution in frogs. *Nature Communications* 15(579). Ferreira A. S., M. Ferrão, A. S. Cunha‐Machado, W. E. Magnusson, **J. Hanken** and A. P. Lima. 2024. Phylogenetic position of the Amazonian nurse frog *Allobates gasconi* (Morales 2002) revealed by topotypical data. *Organisms Diversity & Evolution* 24: 99–118. **Hanken, J**. 2024. Review of Ikio Sato. *Monograph of Japanese Tailed Amphibians.* *Archives of Natural History* 51: 211–212. - ## Building [MCZ](/building/mcz) - ## Faculty Affiliation [Museum of Comparative Zoology](/faculty-affiliation/museum-comparative-zoology) - ## Lab Group [Hanken Lab Members](/lab-group/hanken-laboratory) - ## People [Faculty](/people/faculty) [Emeritus Faculty](/people/emeritus-faculty) - ## Research Areas [Evolution](/research-areas/evolution) [Biodiversity & Systematics](/research-areas/biodiversity-and-systematics) [Evolutionary Developmental Biology](/research-areas/evolutionary-developmental-biology) - ## Search by Last Name [E-H](/search-last-name/e-h)