Luis Amador

Postdoctoral Researcher

10700 Academy Rd NE, Apt. 226, Albuquerque, NM, USA, 87111

Education

2021 Valdivia, Chile PhD. Ecology and Evolution (Universidad Austral de Chile)

2016 Guayaquil, Ecuador MSc. Natural Resources Management (Universidad de Guayaquil)

2005 Guayaquil, Ecuador BSc. Biology (Universidad de Guayaquil)

Postdoctoral Experience

2022 - Determinants of amphibian genomic diversity: Integrating traits, phylogeny and geography (The University of New Mexico, Postdoctoral researcher - NSF Project, PI: Dr. Lisa Barrow)

2021 - 2022 Shedding light at the grey zones of the diversification of long-haired mice of the subgenus Abrothrix (Sigmodontinae): species delimitation and speciation genomics (Universidad Austral de Chile, Research associate - Project Fondecyt No. 1180366, PI: Dr. Guillermo D’Elía)

Publications

undregrad co-authors are indicated in italics and within em dash symbol (—)

  1. Franco-Mena, D., de la Riva, I., Vega-Yánez, M.A., Batallas-Revelo, D., Amador, L., Szekely, P., Cisneros-Heredia, D.F., Reyes-Puig, J.P., Venegas-Valencia, K., Galeano, S.P. & Guayasamin, J.M. (2024). Simplifying the Centrolene buckleyi complex (Amphibia: Anura: Centrolenidae): a taxonomic review and description of two new species. PeerJ 12:e17712 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17712
  2. —Nava Martinez, M.—£, Amador, L.£, Wiley, D.L.F., McDaniels, C. & Barrow, L.N. (2024). Population genomics of four co-distributed frog species in a barrier island system. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, blae063, https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blae063 £ These authors contributed equally to this work.
  3. Narváez, A.E., Ayala-Varela, F., Cuadrado S., Cruz-García, K., Yánez-Muñoz M.H. & Amador, L. (2024). Expansion of the brown anole distribution range in Ecuador: A case of urban spaces favoring the establishment of an opportunistic exotic species. BioInvasions Records, 13(2):373-384.
  4. Amador, L., —Arroyo-Torres, I.— & Barrow, L.N. (2024). Machine learning and phylogenetic comparative methods identify predictors of genetic diversity and structure in Neotropical amphibians. Journal of Biogeography, 51, 909-923. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14795
  5. Amador, L., Leaché, A.D., Victoriano, P. Hickerson, M. & D’Elía, G. (2022). Genomic scale data shows that Parastacus nicoleti encompasses more than one species of burrowing continental crayfishes and that lineage divergence occurred with and without gene flow. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 169, 107443, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107443
  6. Ortega-Andrade, H.M., Rodes, M., Cisneros-Heredia, D.F., Guerra, N., López, K., Sánchez-Nivicela, J.C., Armijos-Ojeda, D., Cáceres, J., Reyes-Puig, C., Quezada, A., Székely, P., Rojas-Soto, O., Székely, D., Guayasamin, J.M., Siavichay, F., Amador, L., Betancourt, R., et al. (2021). Red List assessment for amphibian species of Ecuador: a multidimensional approach for their conservation. PloS One, 16(5): e0251027, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251027
  7. Amador, L., Victoriano, P. & D’Elía, G. (2021). Molecular species delimitation reveals hidden specific diversity within a freshwater burrowing crayfish (Decapoda: Parastacidae) from southern Chile. Systematics and Biodiversity, 19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2020.1865471
  8. D’Elía, G, Canto, J., Ossa G., Verde-Arregoitia L., Bostelmann E., Iriarte A., Amador, L., Quiroga-Carmona M., Hurtado, N., Cadenillas, R. & Valdez, L. (2020). Lista actualizada de los mamíferos vivientes de Chile. Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Chile, 69(2): 67-98.
  9. —Cruz-García, K.—, Cisneros-Heredia, D.F, Sánchez-Nivicela, J.C., Amador, L. (2020). New records of four reptile species (Lepidosauria, Squamata) from the province of Guayas, southwestern Ecuador. Check List, 16(3): 765-772. https://doi.org/10.15560/16.3.765
  10. Amador, L., Soto-Gamboa, M., Guayasamin, J.M. (2019). Integrating alpha, beta, and phylogenetic diversity to understand anuran fauna along environmental gradients of tropical forests in western Ecuador. Ecology & Evolution, 9: 11040– 11052. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5593 Featured on the cover.
  11. Amador, L., Parada, A., D’Elía, G. & Guayasamin, J.M. (2018). Uncovering hidden specific diversity of Andean glassfrogs of the Centrolene buckleyi species complex (Anura: Centrolenidae). PeerJ 6:e5856. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5856
  12. Amador, L., Ayala-Varela, F. Nárvaez, A.E., —Cruz, K.— & Torres-Carvajal, O. (2017). First record of the invasive brown anole Anolis sagrei Duméril and Bibron, 1837 (Squamata: Iguanidae: Dactyloinae) in South America. Check List 13(3): 2083. doi: https://doi.org/10.15560/13.3.2083
  13. Escribano-Ávila, G. Cervera, L., Ordoñez-Delgado, L., Jara-Guerrero, A., Amador, L., Paladines, B., Briceño, J., Parés-Jiménez, L., Lizcano, D.J., Duncan, D.H. & Espinosa, C.I. (2017). Biodiversity patterns and ecological processes in tropical dry forest of the Ecuadorian province: the need to connect research & management for long-term conservation. Neotropical Biodiversity 3(1): 107–116. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23766808.2017.1298495
  14. Amador, L., —Gómez, C.—, —Londoño-Guarnizo C.—, —López-Caro, J.— & Arteaga A. (2017). Northernmost new records of Enyalioides touzeti Torres-Carvajal, Almendáriz, Valencia, Yánez-Muñoz & Reyes, 2008 (Sauria: Hoplocercidae) from Ecuador: altitudinal and latitudinal distribution extension, new provincial and biogeographical record. Check List 13(1): 2032, https://doi.org/10.15560/13.1.2032
  15. Salazar-Valenzuela, D., Martins, A., Amador, L. & Torres-Carvajal (2015). A new species and country record of threadsnakes (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae: Epictinae) from northern Ecuador. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 8(1) [Special Section]: 107–120 (e89).
  16. Amador, L. (2015). Fauna urbana de Guayaquil: el caso de los anfibios y reptiles, nuestros vecinos menospreciados. Revista Científica Yachana, 4, pp. 181-188.
  17. Amador, L. & —Brito, G.— (2013). Notas sobre la distribución y conservación de Ceratophrys stolzmanni (Steindachner, 1882) (Anura: Ceratophryidae) en Ecuador. Revista Científica Yachana, 2(2), pp. 119- 122.
  18. Amador, L. & Martínez, C.C. (2011). Anfibios presentes en cuatro localidades de la Cordillera Chongón Colonche, Ecuador. Boletín Técnico 10, Serie Zoológica 7: 55-68.

Other Publications and Notes

  1. Salvatierra B., Ortega J. & Amador L. (2010). Evaluación Ecológica Rápida de la Herpetofauna de la Cordillera Chongón-Colonche. Investigación, Tecnología e Innovación. Revista de divulgación de la Dirección de Investigaciones y Proyectos Académicos. Vicerrectorado Académico. Universidad de Guayaquil. Vol. 2. N° 1. 51 -74 p.

Manuscripts in review/preparation

  1. Amador, L., Victoriano, P.F., Muñoz-Escobar, C. & D’Elía, G. Molecular systematics and single-locus species delimitation help to discover putative species in the freshwater crayfishes of genus Virilastacus Hobbs, 1991 (Decapoda: Parastacidae). In preparation.
  2. Amador, L., Pelletier, T.A., Arroyo-Torres, I., —Bradley, H—., —Farmer, H—., McDaniels, C.X., Rosario Sanchez, E.O., Wiley, D.L.F., Erdmann, J., Barrow, L.N. Caudata macrogenetics: Species range size predicts intraspecific genetic variation in global salamanders. In review, Global Ecology and Biogeography. Preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.24.634750v2

Presentations

Invited talks

2024 Aspectos genéticos de las poblaciones de camarones de agua dulce en el sur de Chile (Webinar - Samastacus: La historia no contada del camarón de río del sur. Fundación Legado Chile)

2022 Systematics and population genomics of the burrowing crayfish Parastacus nicoleti in Southern Chile (The Crustacean Society (TCS) Summer Meeting- Symposium: Integrative Studies of Freshwater Crayfish in South America)

2021 Explorando mecanismos de diversificación: biogeografía histórica y límites de especies (Invited by the Club Eco-Evo Latinoamérica, Subgrupo de Biogeografía. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rHDrJ8HEZA)

2020 Especiación y criterios para definir especies (Webinar: Transformando ideas en ciencia, mitos y verdades de un posgrado. NEKAMU, Universidad de Guayaquil)

2015 Anfibios y Reptiles en el bosque seco de la costa ecuatoriana: diversidad, estado conservación y perspectivas (Workshop: Biodiversidad y procesos ecológicos del bosque seco tropical: estado y proyecciones. XXXIX Jornadas Nacionales de Biología. Loja, Ecuador)

Speaker in Recent Seminars

2025 Determinants of intraspecific genetic variation in amphibians on a global scale (Evolution 2025, Athens, GA, USA)

2025 Determinants of genetic diversity in global amphibians (Third New Mexico Postdoctoral Research Symposium, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA)

2024 Caudata macrogenetics: Species range size predicts intraspecific genetic variation in global salamanders (3rd Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology, Montreal, Canada)

2023 Machine learning and phylogenetic models identify predictors of genetic variation in Neotropical amphibians (Inaugural New Mexico Postdoctoral Research Symposium, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA - First place presentation)

2023 Life-history traits, phylogeny, or geography, what determines intraspecific genetic diversity in Neotropical amphibians? (SSB 2023, 5th Standalone Meeting. The Society of Systematics Biologists, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico)

2022 Determinants of intraspecific genetic diversity in Neotropical amphibians (2022 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Spokane, WA, USA)

2021 SNPs a escala genómica determinan los límites de especies en el camarón de vega Parastacus nicoleti (Decapoda, Parastacidae) (Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Evolución CLEVOL 2021)

2020 Diversidad oculta en un hotspot de biodiversidad: Una evaluación basada en ADNmt, SNPs y morfología entre poblaciones de un cangrejo de río excavador sudamericano (XLIV Jornadas Nacionales de Biología, Ecuador)

2020 El camarón de vega Parastacus nicoleti presenta alta diversidad genética estructurada geográficamente: implicancias para la delimitación de especies (Reunión anual conjunta. Sociedad Chilena de Evolución, Valdivia, Chile)

2019 Diversification in a biodiversity Hotspot: Species discovery and historical biogeography of a burrowing crayfish of southern Chile (International Biogeography Society’s 2019 Humboldt 250 conference. Quito, Ecuador, Award third best poster)

2018 First approach to the population genetic structure of Parastacus nicoleti (Decapoda) in southern Chile (XXII International Congress of Genetics (ICG), Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil)

2017 Aproximación a la biogeografía histórica de los parastácidos de América del Sur (Decapoda: Parastacidae) (XI Reunión Anual Sociedad Chilena de Evolución. Puerto Varas, Chile)

2017 Explorando la biogeografía histórica de los camarones dulceacuícolas de América del Sur (Decapoda: Parastacidae) (XIV Congreso Sociedad Chilena de Limnología. Puerto Montt, Chile)

2017 Filogenia y delimitación de especies dentro del complejo de especies Hyloxalus infraguttatus (Anura, Dendrobatidae) (XI Congreso Latinoamericano de Herpetología. PUCE Ecuador)

2017 The Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei) an invasive species now in the Southern Hemisphere (XI Congreso Latinoamericano de Herpetología. PUCE Ecuador)

Invited Lectures

December 2022 Universidad Espiritu Santo Phylogenetics and Population Genetics in R (a primer) (Ecuador)

July 2022 Universidad Espiritu Santo Diversidad genética en Anfibios Neotropicales (Ecuador)

July 2021 Universidad Espiritu Santo Anfibios del Occidente de Ecuador (Ecuador)

Teaching and Mentoring Experience

Teaching

Sep 2022 - Dec 2022 University of New Mexico Teaching Assistant, Biodiversity Informatics Course (Albuquerque, USA)

Aug 2019 - Dec 2020 Universidad Austral de Chile Teaching Assistant, Advanced Molecular Systematics (Valdivia, Chile)

Aug 2014 - Apr 2015 Universidad Laica Vicente Rocafuerte de Guayaquil Instructor, Basic Statistics (Guayaquil, Ecuador)

Oct 2013 - Feb 2014 Universidad de Guayaquil Teaching Assistant, Laboratory of Zoology of Vertebrates and Animal Morphology (Guayaquil, Ecuador)

Aug 2008 - Aug 2010 Universidad de Guayaquil Assistant Instructor, Zoology of Vertebrates and Animal Morphology (Guayaquil, Ecuador)

Mentoring

2024 Project: Genetic variation and origin of the populations of the invasive Anolis sagrei in Ecuador Celina Eberle, Undergraduate, University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, USA)

2024 Thesis: Spatial phylogenetics and climate change: distribution patterns on threatened Neotropical glassfrogs Mateo A.Vega Yánez, MSc student, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ (Quito, Ecuador)

2023 - 2024 Project: Population genomics of Barrier-Island frogs Maria Nava, Undergraduate, University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, USA)

2023 Project: Caracterizacion de la estructura de la comunidad de anuros en la comuna Salanguillo. Karen Gonzalez, Undergraduate, Universidad Peninsula de Santa Elena (Santa Elena, Ecuador)

2022 Project: Genetic diversity in Neotropical amphibians Irvin Arroyo-Torres, Undergraduate, University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, USA)

2018 Project: Species delimitation in marine bivalve mollusks Daniela Levicoy Mantilla, Master Student, Universidad Austral de Chile (Valdivia, Chile)

Tutorials (open source contributions)

  1. Retrieve the geographic coordinates associated with DNA sequences. https://github.com/luchoamador/tutorials/blob/main/Coords_DNAseqs.html
  2. Phylogenetics and Population Genetics in R (a primer). https://github.com/luchoamador/tutorials/blob/main/Phylo_PopGen_analyses_R.html
  3. Downloading species range maps from IUCN. https://github.com/luchoamador/tutorials/blob/main/range_maps_IUCN.html
  4. Tutorial BEAST (in Spanish). https://github.com/luchoamador/tutorials/blob/main/Tutorial_BEAST_LA.pdf

Professional Experience

2013 - 2016 Scientific Research Project Coordinator (Universidad Laica Vicente Rocafuerte de Guayaquil)

2012 - 2013 Guayaquil Ecologico - Technical Project Coordinator (Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador)

2010 - 2012 Research Project Analyst (Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Investigacion Cientifica)

2006 - 2008 Scientific Observer on board tuna vessels (Interamerican Tropial Tuna Comission)

Grants, Awards and Fellowships

2023 New Mexico Postdoctoral Research Symposium (University of New Mexico - First place, $ 300.00)

2021 Research Incentive (Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Desarrollo y Creación Artística, Universidad Austral de Chile, $ 210.00)

2020 Scholarship Completion of Doctoral Theses (Escuela de Graduados, Universidad Austral de Chile, $ 1,400.00)

2019 Research Incentive (Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Desarrollo y Creación Artística, Universidad Austral de Chile, $ 320.00)

2019 Internship Abroad Scholarship (Beca de Estadía en Centros de Investigación Científica, Tecnológica y Humanística, segundo semestre 2019, Universidad Austral de Chile, $ 1,500.00)

2019 Fellowship Doctoral Internships Abroad (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), $ 6,800.00)

2019 Congress Attendance Subsidy, IBS Quito 2019 (Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Desarrollo y Creación Artística, Universidad Austral de Chile, $ 150.00)

2019 Course Scholarship (Bursary award towards the registration fee in the Wellcome Genome Campus Advance Course: Computational Molecular Evolution, $ 1,100.00)

2019 Fellowship Operational Costs for PhD Thesis Project (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), $ 2,800.00)

2018 Congress Attendance Subsidy, XXII International Congress of Genetics (Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Desarrollo y Creación Artística, Universidad Austral de Chile, $ 150.00)

2017 Scholarship for PhD students (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), $ 45,000.00)

2014 PhD Scholarship (Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT), $ 105,000.00)

2010 MSc Scholarship (Universidad de Guayaquil, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, $ 2,000.00)

2009 Research Grant (Conservation of threatened amphibians in the coast of Ecuador. University of Guayaquil, Direction of Investigation and Academic Projects (DIPA), $ 9,000.00)

2008 Research Grant (Rapid Ecological Assessment of the Herpetofauna in the Cordillera Chongón Colonche. University of Guayaquil, Direction of Investigation and Academic Projects (DIPA), $ 9,000.00)

Professional Service

  • Journal reviewer. Global Ecology and Biogeography, Hydrobiologia, EcoHealth, PeerJ, Herpetologica, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, PLOS ONE, Ecology and Evolution, Ecography, Journal of Crustacean Biology, Zootaxa, South American Journal of Herpetology, Zoological Research, Neotropical Biodiversity, Basic and Applied Ecology, Diversity and Distributions, Science of the Total Environment, Biological Invasions.
  • Judge.
  1. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists 2022, Spokane, Washington.
  2. Research Days 2023 - 2024 - 2025, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  3. Hamilton symposium, Evolution 2023 - 2024 (virtual).
  • Amphibian Specialist.
  1. Lista Roja Nacional de Anfibios de Ecuador 2021. Dirección de Biodiversidad. Ministerio del Ambiente y Agua, Ecuador. http://mesadeayuda.ambiente.gob.ec/Documentacion/Biodiversidad/listaroja_anfibios.pdf
  2. Workshop to establish the IUCN threat categories for Ecuadorian frogs. Amphibian specialist. Ecuador, 2016.
  3. Amphibian Species of the World. Online editions Version 6.0 (2013 to 2020).

Professional memberships

Society for the Study of Evolution, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Red Nacional de Investigación sobre Biodiversidad (RedBio), NCFDD Faculty Success Program, Amphibian Genomics Consortium (AGC).

Outreach

Online blog articles

Selected Media Coverage

    1. Reptiles y anfibios como mascotas: una cuestión ética y ecológica. This content was published on La Revista, El Universo Newspaper.
    1. Estudio presenta nueva información y los primeros registros de cuatro especies de reptiles en la provincia del Guayas. Noticias INABIO.
    1. La Lagartija superinvasora. Expreso Newspaper.
    1. Anfibios y reptiles de la Cordillera Chongón-Colonche. El Heraldo Newspaper. Ambato, Ecuador.
    1. Investigación en universidades se ajusta a déficit en presupuestos. El Universo Newspaper. Guayaquil, Ecuador.
    1. Con estudios, 3 universidades trabajan a favor de la Tierra. El Universo Newspaper. Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Professional References