Blue Ridge Country January/February 2021 - 75

OF SCIENCE AND 'SPRING LIZARDS'

s
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Sala
THE JOY OF

Jon Davenport is so enamored with the amphibians that he has his
three daughters on a life quest to find a 10th species at their own house.
By NANCY HENDERSON | Photos courtesy of JON DAVENPORT

on Davenport is still a bit giddy
from this morning's field trip and
the wriggly critters his students
from Appalachian State University
in Boone, North Carolina, discovered on the trail. Socially distanced
and wearing masks, the small group
met at Davenport's house near the Watauga River and drove to Beech Mountain in
search of the elusive Pinkney salamander
found only at high elevations.
" When it gets close to freezing, some
species like this one tend to disappear
for the year, " he says. " But we thought
they would probably be there. And sure
enough, there they were. Once temperatures warm up, maybe next week, we're
going to try to go back. "
For the gregarious Davenport, an amphibian researcher and assistant professor
who travels the world studying various
species, sharing moments like this with
his young proteges is the best part of the
job.
" I am kind of biased with salamanders, "
he says. " I mean, they are everywhere, but
people just don't realize how special it is
to find one and to see so many different
ones, especially in the Appalachians. The
southern Appalachians have the highest
diversity in the world, rivaled only by a
few places in the tropics. "
Davenport, 40, has spent his whole life
practicing what he teaches, which cur-

rently runs the gamut from herpetology
to community ecology and conservation
biology. Growing up in a trailer park on
the Little Pigeon River in Sevierville, Tennessee, he spent many days hunting and
fishing with his dad at Douglas Lake and
the Cherokee National Forest, attending
family reunions in the Smokies, and fly
fishing with his dad's relatives near Copperhill.
" I'm trying to make up for past sins, "
Davenport admits. " We used to use salamanders as bait. We called them spring
lizards back then. "
Like many young boys, he dreamed of
being an astronaut, or maybe a cowboy. In
middle school, he thought about becoming a veterinarian but ultimately decided,
" I would struggle not being able to talk to
the patient. "
At Maryville College, Davenport initially wanted to focus on fish, but his " eureka " moment came when an amphibianreptile professor invited him to help out
with a few projects.
" The amphibians were the most enticing, and growing up near the Smokies I was in amphibian heaven, " he says.
" What was appealing to me is that they
specifically have to come back to water to
lay their legs, so they actually spend a fair
amount of time on water and on land. "
As if he needed any more nudging, a
couple more experiences-one observing
differences in salamanders as an intern for

Jon Davenport: " I am kind of biased with
salamanders. I mean, they are everywhere,
but people just don't realize how special it is
to find one, and to see so many different ones,
especially in the Appalachians. "

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

Blue Ridge Country January/February 2021

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