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

​Jan. 2025 National Geographic "Der Fisch im Menschen - wie die Tier an Land kamen" reports on our genomic studies on lungfish that were published in Nature in 2021 and 2024. View PDF.​

​PBS reports on seahorse study we were involved in (Li et al. 2021 Nature Communications 12: 1094. View PDF) - View Video here​

Our latest (selected) publications

  • 14.8.2024. The genomes of all lungfish inform on genome expansion and tetrapod evolution. Came out in Nature
  • 6.5. 2023 Leafy seadragon genome published in Science China Life Sciences.
  • 6.10. 2022 Homoploid hybrid speciation in Nicaraguan crater lake cichlid fishes published in Nature Communications
  • 13.1.2022 "Goldentouch" paper published in Nature Communications
  • 18.8.2021 Seadragon Genome paper is out in Science Advances
  • 29.4.2021 Vertebrate Genome Project paper is out in Nature 
  • 18.01.2021 - Meyer, A., et al. 2021. Giant Lungfish genome elucidates the conquest of land by vertebrates. Nature View PDF
  • 28.10.2020 - Kautt A.F., et al. 2020. Contrasting signatures of genomic divergence during sympatric speciation. Nature View PDF​
  • ​all Meyer lab publications
Wissenschafts-Podcast "MenschenTiereSensationen" (MTS) mit Prof. Michael Sommer auf cicero.de -
​Dem Magazin für Politische Kultur
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