⚙️ Projects

The Very Extended Phenotype: connecting genetics and evolution to ecological function
We propose to develop a cross-scale research program that focuses on the relationships between phylogenetic diversity, genetic diversity and functional diversity of a biologically and economically important taxonomic group; bats.
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The Very Extended Phenotype: connecting genetics and evolution to ecological function
Genomics of exceptions to scaling of longevity to body size
This project focuses on pairs of closely related bat species that sharply differ in their longevity. Detailed genome comparisons between closely related species with different life spans will test different theories of aging.
Genomics of exceptions to scaling of longevity to body size
Interdisciplinary Graduate Training to Understand and Inform Decision Processes Using Advanced Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization
This training program responds to the challenges of new careers at the interface between science and decision making with an interdisciplinary set of new courses and a suite of activities united by the theme of “Scientific Training and Research to Inform DEcisions” (STRIDE).
Interdisciplinary Graduate Training to Understand and Inform Decision Processes Using Advanced Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization
Chance or necessity? Adaptive vs. non adaptive evolution in plant-frugivore interactions
The project focuses on a relatively unexplored yet crucial aspect of plant-animal mutualisms; volatile chemical communication between plants and vertebrate frugivores.
Chance or necessity? Adaptive vs. non adaptive evolution in plant-frugivore interactions
Discovering genomic and developmental mechanisms that underlie sensory innovations critical to adaptive diversification
This project focuses on a diverse group of tropical bats in which various species evolved acute, specialized hearing, supersensitive eyes, the ability to smell subtle plant chemicals, or highly developed vomeronasal systems (thought to contribute to mating and social hierarchy).
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Discovering genomic and developmental mechanisms that underlie sensory innovations critical to adaptive diversification
Uncovering skin immune proteins as predictors of resistance against WNS
The goal of this project was to discover the mechanisms underlying the survival of remnant populations in the WNS-affected area.
Uncovering skin immune proteins as predictors of resistance against WNS
Diversification in Noctilionoid Bats
Noctilionoid bats comprise more than 200 species that span the entire ecological diversity of land mammals. They range from tiny insectivores and nectarivores to large carnivores, and even vampire bats. This is an unparalleled system for understanding how, when, and where bats evolved new diets, changed roosting habits and developed different kinds of echolocation. Together with the N. B. Simmons Lab, we are generating species-level phylogenies using molecular and morphological data, and including fossils of >20 extinct species. These phylogenies provide frameworks for investigating patterns and processes of ecological adaptation, speciation, and extinction across a hyperdiverse group of mammals.
Diversification in Noctilionoid Bats
Historical Biogeography of the Antilles
The project will generate hypotheses about the evolutionary relationships of 5 different groups of bats, each containing at least one exclusively Antillean species. These evolutionary relationships will then be used to establish the timing and pattern of separation among bat species in the Antilles and their South and Central American relatives, and will also be compared with similar hypotheses about other terrestrial organisms. Drs. Nancy Simmons, Rob DeSalle, and Liliana Davalos will use standard methods for obtaining and analyzing morphological and molecular data from the study groups. Patterns of evolutionary relationships resulting from these data will be compared applying at least 5 different approaches.
Historical Biogeography of the Antilles