
Sharks, brains & laser beams - My lab focuses on comparative neuroanatomy of sharks, batoids, & chimaerids. Director of the @YopakZoMBiELab at @UNCWilmington
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Joined August 2012
- Tweets433
- Following251
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Kara Yopak retweeted
Do shark brains differ between different species? Does one species' brain change over its lifespan? How does changing environment change brain development? These are questions @ProfSharkBrain and @YopakZoMBiELab are trying to answer!
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e…
Kara Yopak retweeted
#DidYouKnow that @ProfSharkBrain and @YopakZoMBiELab have seen 180 species of skates, rays, sharks, and chimera brains? Learn about what she and her Zombie Lab are learning about these brain specimens on the Gills Talk podcast!
Kara Yopak retweeted
Wow so many publications this month! Congrats to Dr.Steve Kinsey, Dr.Michael Mallin, and Dr.Kara Yopak for their new publications
20-year water quality analysis
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
Hypoxia Tolerance
doi.org/10.1093/icb/icae144
Bioimaging of sense organs
doi.org/10.1002/ar.25566
Kara Yopak retweeted
🎉New paper🚨 Interested in 3D imaging of the nervous system of fishes or reptiles? Check out @UNCW_BaMB's Kara Yopak's @ProfSharkBrain latest collaborative publication on imaging! doi.org/10.1002/ar.25566
@AnatRecord
Kara Yopak retweeted
A tribute to the great Harvey Karten, an absolute giant in comparative neurobiology thetransmitter.org/neuroanat…
Kara Yopak retweeted
Great to be visiting @ProfSharkBrain of @YopakZoMBiELab at the Centre for Marine Science in Wilmington, North Carolina, talking shark brains & endocasts 🦈 🧠
Kara Yopak retweeted
Understanding repro mode evolution in sharks and rays we can test different theories about how these traits relate to diversification dynamics (i.e. rates of speciation and extinction): the Viviparity Driven Conflict Hypothesis and the Novel Ecological Opportunity hypothesis.
Kara Yopak retweeted
Live-bearing and matrotrophy co-evolved with increasing body size, shallower depth, and more tropical distributions. Larger maternal body size accommodates retained embryos, and increased foraging efficiency with reduced predation risk may allow for more maternal investment
Kara Yopak retweeted
Egg-laying is ancestral and live-bearing and matrotrophy (additional maternal nourishment beyond the initial yolk) have evolved multiple times. While some groups are invariant (all skates lay eggs), groups like the requiem sharks exhibit diverse reproductive modes and habitats
Kara Yopak retweeted
The sequence and drivers of the evolution of live-bearing and matrotrophy are fundamental questions in vertebrate macroecology, and sharks and rays with their reproductive diversity (everything from egg-laying to placentas) are an ideal group for addressing these questions.
Kara Yopak retweeted
Hot off the press! Out now in @CurrentBiology "Maternal investment evolves with larger body size
and higher diversification rate in sharks and rays"
Read here:
authors.elsevier.com/a/1jCxB…
Massive thanks to my co-authors @mwpen @ProfSharkBrain and @NickDulvy
Kara Yopak retweeted
I am today's Roer seminar speaker @UNCW_BaMB, at 3 PM excited to see you all there!
Kara Yopak retweeted
Do sharks have ears? Unlike us, sharks have no need for external ears. Instead, they feel the sound with their whole bodies! In this episode, Dr Lucille Chapuis talks to us about the fascinating topic of shark hearing!
saveourseas.com/worldofshark…
Kara Yopak retweeted
We really can't. Sounds fantastic!
& for anyone who might've missed your co authored work ,
Interspecific Variation in the Inner #Ear Maculae of #Sharks
Sauer, Yopak, Radford
doi.org/10.1093/iob/obad031

ALT Fig. 2. Tracings of the saccular maculae from three representative shark species, M. lenticulatus (A), I. oxyrinchus (B), and S . g riffini (C), demon- strating the similar shape of the saccule and similar HC orientations (arrows indicate orientation) between species. Note that length and width should not be directly compared, as scales differ. Scale bars = 1000 μm. D = dorsal, R = rostral.
Can you imagine a better weekend than dissecting shark noses with @OceanExplauren and Aubrey?? Yeah, I can’t either… 🦈🧠
Kara Yopak retweeted
Hot off the press! @derek_sauer quantifies variation in elasmo inner ears. Considerable variation with habitat and prey type. Presented @ElasmoSociety last week and published this week! @ProfSharkBrain #craigratford
rdcu.be/dhBHe
Kara Yopak retweeted
New paper alert: Differences in muscle tissue response to thermal stress in two Port Jackson shark populations; led Peyton Thomas sciencedirect.com/science/ar… – at South Australia, Australia
Kara Yopak retweeted
Great new paper by Thomas et al. showing that Port Jackson sharks modify skeletal muscle capillaries based on the thermal regime. Peyton Thomas, Emily Peele, @ProfSharkBrain @CulumBrown @walking_sharks @HuveneersSSEG sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
Kara Yopak retweeted
Many congratulations @YopakZoMBiELab
New Research: Ontogenetic development of inner ear hair cell organization in the New Zealand carpet shark Cephaloscyllium isabellum: Introduction
The inner ear hair cells of fishes can provide insight into the early evolution of vertebrate… frontiersin.org/articles/10.… #Ecology
Kara Yopak retweeted
Congrats to PhD student @derek_sauer for his recent publication on changes to the inner ear of the NZ carpet shark with the #yopakzombielab @UNCW_BaMB and #craigradford at @AucklandUni.
New Research: Ontogenetic development of inner ear hair cell organization in the New Zealand carpet shark Cephaloscyllium isabellum: Introduction
The inner ear hair cells of fishes can provide insight into the early evolution of vertebrate… frontiersin.org/articles/10.… #Ecology
Kara Yopak retweeted
🗓️Tomorrow is the day: the start of the #JBJC2022!
And what best to kick off with this great talk by Emily Peele from @YopakZoMBiELab:
Too hot to handle? Effects of increased temperature on brain and sensory development in the Port Jackson Shark. 🦈
#EvolNeuro #AcademicTwitter





























