The capacity of a species to respond to environmental changes depends on its evolutionary and adaptive potential, which in some extend relies on the amount and structure of adaptive genetic variation. We have shown that small, isolated, island lizards of the genus Podarcis differ markedly in the strength of adaptation to temperature changes compared to their mainland kins but not in an expected manner. To better understand how lizards adapt to their local environment and how adaptation is achieved at the genetic, regulatory and epigenetic level we combine experimental work and field surveys with genomic tools.
Biodiversity worldwide is in an alarming decline. Advances in the field of molecular genetics and genomics offer new tools to identify hidden diversity that otherwise would have been overlooked. We focus on narrowly Greek endemic reptilian and amphibian species that are facing conservation and management issues and study natural history, life history, physiology and morphological variation. We then compare the patterns of variation between species and/or populations to search for common patterns of diversity and understand the evolutionary mechanisms that drive this variation.
Species are currently exposed to rapid environmental changes that alter the way organisms interact with and use resources from their environment. Cognition equips animals with the necessary behavioral flexibility for problem solving and learning in novel environmental conditions, while it is also essential for a wide range of behaviors, including foraging, avoiding predators and mating. Understanding, thus i) how individual variation in cognitive processes occurs and ii) which conditions engender this variation and the role of natural and sexual selection as well as identify i) the drivers of cognitive evolution and ii- understand how, why and when cognitive performance evolve, iv) whether cognitive performance are few of the questions we address in the lab. To address these questions we combine disciplines from ecological, behavioral, evolutionary and molecular perspectives together with laboratory-based experiments.
We are fascinated by the diversity of various animal groups, and we are in a continuous struggle to set their divergence in a temporal and spatial frame. The geographical area of interest has been the eastern Mediterranean. We are implementing next generation sequencing techniques such as ddRAD and transcriptomics to a diverse reptilian species to understand the origin and evolutionary history of populations and to inform conservation management. Additionally, some of our research also focuses on understanding the evolution of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and animals’ parasite resistance.
We are fascinated by the diversity of various animal groups, and we are in a continuous struggle to set their divergence in a temporal and spatial frame. The geographical area of interest has been the eastern Mediterranean. We are implementing next generation sequencing techniques such as ddRAD and transcriptomics to a diverse reptilian species to understand the origin and evolutionary history of populations and to inform conservation management. Additionally, some of our research also focuses on understanding the evolution of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and animals’ parasite resistance.