Frederico M. Barroso

Fred is a zoologist with 10+ years of experience in herpetology and field ecology (especially tropical). His journey with Opwall began in his first year of university in 2013, when he joined the Peru expedition as a Research Assistant. Captivated by the field, he returned in 2014 as an RA and 2016 as a Dissertation student to collect data on the thermal ecology of Amazonian caiman.

After finishing his Zoology MSci from the University of Glasgow, Fred joined the Honduran expedition as a junior staff herpetologist. It was amidst the cloud forests of Cusuco National Park that he escaped from his own graduation ceremony! He then spent a couple of years with Opwall’s Iberian Office as a Biodiversity Research presenter, sharing with school and university students across Portugal and Spain a taste of Operation Wallacea’s science (spiced up with his own expedition stories!).

Since then, Fred has taken part in many other Opwall expeditions including Croatia, Peru (again! But this time as staff) and Mexico (x3, and counting…). There he filled roles ranging from herpetologist to data manager and science coordinator. His recent work in Mexico has contributed valuable data for his PhD thesis at the University of Porto, where he is developing innovative methods (e.g. thermography and data logging) to study the thermal ecology of crocodilians and lizards. Fred is now a full-time Research and Education Officer at Opwall, focusing on our Neotropical sites.

When not in the field Fred enjoys gardening, building ponds and aquaria as well as capturing nature through photography.

Publications:

Mochales-Riaño, G. & Barroso, F. M., Marques, V., Telea, A. E., Sannolo, M., Rato, C., Carretero, M. A. (2024). Novel method to investigate thermal exchange rates in small, terrestrial ectotherms: A proof-of-concept on the gecko Tarentola mauritanica. PLOS ONE, Vol. 19, Issue 12, p. e0316283. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316283

Žagar, A., Dajčman, U., Megía-Palma, R., Simčič, T., Barroso, F. M., Baškiera, S., & Carretero, M. A. (2024). Analysis of subcellular energy metabolism in five Lacertidae lizards across varied environmental conditions. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Vol. 297, p. 111729 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.111729

Barroso, F.M. (2023). Husbandry guidelines for the safe brumation of two lacertid lizard species (Iberolacerta monticola and Podarcis lusitanicus) in laboratory conditions. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl8p1p9g2w/v2

Hastings, B. T., Melnyk, A., Ghyabi, M., White, E., Barroso, F. M., Carretero, M. A., Lattanzi, D., Claude, J., & Chiari, Y. (2023). Melanistic coloration does not influence thermoregulation in the crepuscular gecko Eublepharis macularius. Biology Open, Vol. 12, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.060114

Fernández-Rodríguez, I., Barroso, F. M., & Carretero, M. A. (2021). An integrative analysis of the short-term effects of tail autotomy on thermoregulation and dehydration rates in wall lizards. Journal of Thermal Biology, Vol. 99, p. 102976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.102976

Barroso, F. M., Riaño, G., Sannolo, M., Carretero, M. A., & Rato, C. (2020). Evidence from Tarentola mauritanica (Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae) helps validate thermography as a tool to infer internal body temperatures of lizards. Journal of Thermal Biology. Vol. 93, p. 102700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102700

Sannolo, M., Barroso, F. M., & Carretero, M. A. (2018). Physiological differences in preferred temperatures and evaporative water loss rates in two sympatric lacertid species. Zoology. Vol. 126, pp. 58–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2017.12.003

Barroso, F. M., Carretero, M. A., Silva, F., & Sannolo, M. (2016). Assessing the reliability of thermography to infer internal body temperatures of lizards. Journal of Thermal Biology. Vol. 62, pp. 90–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2016.10.004