The Meyer Lab
We study several fundamental issues in evolutionary biology. In particular, the evolution of biodiversity, and specifically the genesis of genomic, developmental and morphological diversity as well as their evolutionary interconnections, are of interest to us. To this end we study: morphological differentiation and its developmental basis within a phylogenetic framework, genetic differentiation among populations and species, and the evolution of genes and genomes, and the evolution of novel gene functions. In an effort to better understand the origin and maintenance of diversity we mostly use molecular and bioinformatic approaches, to ask how many and what kind of genetic changes accompany morphological differentiation among populations and species.

News

  • 20.2.2019 - EurekaAlert! about Hulsey et al.'s paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B: "New insights into phenotypic complexity and diversity among cichlids" Link
  • 12.1.2019 - Podcast about Franchini et al.'s paper in Nature Communications: "Researchers create new sex chromosomes. Deutschlandfunk  Link  
  • 12.6.2018 - "The evolution of a new sex chromosome in swordtail fish"  Blog Post about Franchini et al.'s paper in Nature Communications Link
  • 26.10.2018 - "Das Geheimnis der Buntbarsch-Streifen" Spiegel Online coverage of Kratochwil et al.'s paper in Science Link

Our latest publications

  • Feiner, N., Kuraku, S., and A. Meyer. 2019. Asymmetric paralog evolution between the "cryptic" gene Bmp16 and its well-studied sister genes Bmp2 and Bmp4. Scientific Reports. (in press). 
  • 20.2.2019 - Hulsey, C.D., Alfaro, M.E., Zheng, J., Meyer, A., and R. Holzman. 2019. Pleiotropic jaw morphology links the evolution of mechanical modularity and functional feeding convergence in Lake Malawi cichlids. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B. 286: 20182358.
  • Franchini, P., Jones, J., Xiong, P., Kneitz, S., Gompert, Z., Warren, W.C., Walter, R.B., Meyer, A., and M. Schartl. 2018. Long-term experimental hybridisation results in the evolution of a new sex chromosome in swordtail fish. Nature Communications. 9: 5136.
  • ​all Meyer lab publications