PHENOTYPIC EVOLUTION

We are twin research team bringing together researchers from CIBIO/InBIO (Portugal) and the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and IRBio in the University of Barcelona (Spain), as well as collaborators from various European countries.

Our research group aims at linking morphology, function, and ecology to infer how species diversify and investigate the processes related to the evolution of phenotypic diversity.

How? We combine morphological data (from animals collected in the field, museum collections, and public datasets), functional information (lab experiments), and environmental data to test the mechanisms shaping phenotypic patterns at different levels (individual, population, species, and ecosystems).

What tools do we use? We use linear and geometric morphometrics, motion analysis, biomechanical modelling, spatial analysis tools, and phylogenetic comparative methods, to integrate phenotypic data across spatial and temporal scales.

Our models: lizards, snakes, amphibians, scorpions, spiders, and many others.