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

  • 17.4.2019 - Professor Meyer was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Sciences Link
  • 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

Our latest publications

  • 30.4.2019 - Torres-Dowdall et al. 2019. Asymmetry in genitalia is in sync with lateralized mating behavior but not with the lateralization of other behaviors. Current Zoology. (in press).
  • 28.3.2019 - Du et al. 2019. The genome of the arapaima (Arapaima gigas) provides insights into gigantism, fast growth and chromosomal sex determination system. Scientific Reports. 9:5293 
  • 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.
  • ​all Meyer lab publications