About Cara

Academic Background

2021 - Present: PhD in Biology at Texas A&M University
2014 - 2019: B.S. in Biological Sciences and Spanish at Florida State University

Research Interests

My current research aims to characterize sleep in bats (Chiroptera), which have seldom been studied for sleep previously. Bats, comprising the second-largest order of mammals, are unique in their heterothermic ability to enter torpor, which can appear as sleep. However, not all bats have this capability, and the depth and length of torpor varies between species. Moreover, order Chiroptera contains great diversity in characteristics such as diet, habitat, body mass, and sociality, which are all strong evolutionary drivers of sleep behavior. I am interested in identifying electrophysiological, behavioral, neuroanatomical, and metabolic elements of different arousal states in both the tropical Artibeus jamaicensis, the Jamaican fruit-eating bat, and the smaller temperate insectivore Tadarida brasiliensis, the Mexican free-tailed bat.  A variety of measures in two different species will allow for assessment of how both bats and species traits fit into broader theories of sleep evolution, such as inactivity theory, energy conservation theory, restoration theory, and brain plasticity theory. Additionally, using this research, I hope to elucidate the complex relationship between torpor and sleep.

Publications:

Hutton, P., Lloyd, E., Dotson, M., Keene, A.C., 2023. Sleep behavior analysis in Astyanax mexicanus. In: Wang,W., Rohner, N., Wang, V. (Eds.), Emerging Model Organisms. Springer US, New York, NY, pp. 235-247.