Evolution, Systematics, and Evo-Devo
Systematics is the science that aims to reconstruct and explain the origins and evolution of organismal diversity as well as its distribution in space and time. The field encompasses or overlaps such diverse disciplines as taxonomy, phylogenetics, paleontology, morphology, ecology, genetics, and biogeography.
Evidence derived from analysis of molecular sequence data has become increasingly central to many of these disciplines and is an important component of systematics research in the Department of Entomology. However, morphology — the study of organismal form — remains an integral component of our program, with particular focus on functional morphology and development.
Entomology faculty address evolutionary questions from a variety of perspectives and at different scales of biological organization. Fundamental questions are explored through empirical laboratory and field studies using a variety of approaches including genetic, genomic, and theoretical and computational analyses.
Evolutionary research interests of the Entomology faculty include a diverse array of subjects and insect species. Areas of current focus include phylogenetics and systematics, the evolution of development, host-pathogen interactions, pesticide resistance, plant-insect interactions, sociality, ecologically important traits.
Evidence derived from analysis of molecular sequence data has become increasingly central to many of these disciplines and is an important component of systematics research in the Department of Entomology. However, morphology — the study of organismal form — remains an integral component of our program, with particular focus on functional morphology and development.
Entomology faculty address evolutionary questions from a variety of perspectives and at different scales of biological organization. Fundamental questions are explored through empirical laboratory and field studies using a variety of approaches including genetic, genomic, and theoretical and computational analyses.
Evolutionary research interests of the Entomology faculty include a diverse array of subjects and insect species. Areas of current focus include phylogenetics and systematics, the evolution of development, host-pathogen interactions, pesticide resistance, plant-insect interactions, sociality, ecologically important traits.
Participating Faculty
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David Hawthorne, Associate Professor & Director of Education, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC)
PLS 4132 | 301-405-2401 | [email protected] The Hawthorne Lab uses population genetics to understand how insects become pests, how they evolve to counter control efforts, and how to use evolutionary thinking to manage them. The Lab also dissects the genetic basis of host-plant associated divides among pest populations and uses phylogeographic analyses to investigate issues in conservation genetics. |
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Leslie Pick, Professor & Chair
PLS 4114 | 301-405-3914 | [email protected] The Pick Lab uses the fruit fly to track the evolution of the Hox gene fushi tarazu (ftz) and its partner, the orphan nuclear receptor Ftz-F1, through arthropod phylogeny. These studies have led to a widely accepted model for the evolution of this Hox gene, which has undergone changes in both its expression pattern and protein sequence to switch its function from an ancestral homeotic gene to a segmentation gene in Drosophila. |
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Jeffrey Shultz, Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies
PLS 4134 | 301-405-7519 | [email protected] Research in the Shultz Lab deals with the evolutionary morphology, biomechanics behavior, and systematics of arachnids and other arthropods. Much of the ongoing work focuses on the taxonomy, evolution and reproductive biology of leiobunine harvestmen (daddy longlegs) of eastern North America, but they have experience with a wide diversity of taxa and research problems (such as the hydrodynamics of gill ventilation in mayfly naiads, mechanics of elastic sclerites and hydraulics in arachnid locomotion, molecular systematics of major arthropod groups, comparative anatomy of scorpions and many others). |
