James Hanken studies the evolution of morphology, developmental biology, and systematics. Most work by his group focuses on amphibians but otherwise addresses a wide range of topics, taxa, and methodologies. His current subjects include the evolution of craniofacial patterning in vertebrates; the developmental basis of life-history evolution; systematics, taxonomy and evolution of African frogs and neotropical and Asian salamanders; and amphibian declines and conservation. His active field programs are maintained in Mexico, Argentina, China, Africa, and Sri Lanka, and his laboratory serves as a community research facility for NSF's AmphibiaTree project.