Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary Biology is the scientific study of the processes that generate and shape biological diversity across all levels of life. Research in this area focuses on how evolutionary change arises from interactions between genetic variation, developmental mechanisms, and environmental pressures, ultimately giving rise to the diversity of forms and functions observed in nature.
The approaches employed in this field range from molecular and developmental biology to comparative morphology and theoretical modelling. This allows researchers to address fundamental questions about the origin of traits, the evolution of complex structures, and the mechanisms underlying adaptation. The study places particular emphasis on understanding how phenotypic variation is produced and maintained, and how evolutionary innovation emerges over time.
The integration of empirical data with conceptual frameworks is a hallmark of Evolutionary Biology, offering a unifying perspective within the life sciences. The present study connects microevolutionary processes with large-scale evolutionary patterns, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of how organisms diversify, interact, and persist in changing environments.
Supervisors
Thomas Schwaha
Privatdoz.
Project Lead of the Bryozoan Evolution Project
Part of the Marine invertebrates research group
Research Areas
- Bryozoan
- Animal Morphology and Evolution
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Gerhard Steiner
Project Lead of the Mollusk systematics Research Group
Part of the Marine invertebrates research group
Research Areas
- Mollusk systematics
- Invertebrate phylogenetics and evolution
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Andreas Wanninger
Head of the Department of Evolutionary Biology
Project Lead of the Lophotrochozoan EvoDevo Research Group
Part of the Marine invertebrates research group
Research Areas
- Comparative invertebrate morphology
- Invertebrate MorphoEvoDevo
- Invertebrate genomics and transcriptomics
- Lophotrochozoan evolution
- Animal life cycle evolution
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Yoko Matsumura
PhD
Senior Scientist at the Unit of Integrative Zoology
Research Areas
- Insects
- Functional morphology
- Genitalia
- Reproduction
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Tim Wollesen
PhD
Head of the Spiralian EvoDevo Research Group
Research Areas
- Evolutionary Developmental Biology (EvoDevo)
- Evolution of body plans and morphological novelties
- Adhesive systems
- Studied organisms: Spiralia (molluscs, chaetognaths, kamptozoans, annelids)
- Morphology, (single cell/ nucleus) transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics
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Harald Krenn
Head of the Terrestrial arthropods research group
Research Areas
- Terrestrial arthropods
- Insect functional morphology
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Mihaela Pavlicev
Head of the Theoretical Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Developmental evolution
- Reproductive biology
- Evolvability
- Evolutionary medicine
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Philipp Mitteröcker
Privatdoz.
Member of the Theoretical Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Theoretical evolutionary biology
- Evolutionary medicine
- Biometrics
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Brian Metscher
Privatdoz. B.Sc. PhD
Member of the Theoretical Biology Research Group
Head of the MircroCT lab
Research Areas
- X-ray microtomography methods and applications
- Comparative developmental morphology
- Scientific writing and communication
- Microscopic imaging and analysis
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Himani Sachdeva
MSc PhD
Member of the Theoretical Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Population genetics
- Polygenic adaptation
- Speciation
- Mathematical modeling
- Genomic analysis.
Supervisors at affiliated Institutes
Elisabeth Haring
Privatdoz.
Associated Scientist at the Central Research Labs of the Natural History Museum Vienna
Research Areas
- Molecular Systematics - birds
- Mammals
- Insects
- Molluscs
- Molecular Evolution
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WasserCluster Lunz
Luise Kruckenhauser
Privatdoz.
Head of the Research Laboratory of Molecular Systematics at the Natural History Museum Vienna
Project Lead on the FWF Project “Shedding light on the evolution of a blind cavefish” (FWF-PAT 1494723)
Research Areas:
- Population and conservation genetics
- Species delimitation
- Molecular systematics
- Phylogeography
- Genetic monitoring
- Evolution of cave fish
- DNA barcoding of molluscs
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WasserCluster Lunz
PhD Students
Paul Arthur Höller
Project: Axis determination and axial patterning during ontogeny and regeneration of the sea spider Pycnogonum litorale
Supervisors: Thomas Schwaha & Georg Brenneis
Sophie Greistorfer
Project: Glowing mucus; Characterisation of the unique defence secretion of Latia neritoides (Gastropoda)
Supervisor: Gerhard Steiner
Margret Eckhard
Project: Glue characterization in centipedes
Supervisor: Andreas Wanninger
Antonia Grausgruber
Project: Axis determination and left-right asymmetry in a vermetid gastropod
Supervisor: Andreas Wanninger
ORCIDGudrun Schwarze
Project: Morphogenesis, gene expression, and metamorphosis in a vermetid gastropod
Supervisor: Andreas Wanninger
ResearchGateORCID
u:cris URL
Anna-Chiara Barta
Project: Phylogeny and Evolution of Peracardia (Crustacea)
Supervisors: Luise Kruckenhauser & Martin Schwentner
Cristian Camilo Barrera Grijalba
Project: The adhesion system of Spadella cephaloptera
Supervisor: Tim Wollesen
Alice Frisinghelli
Project: Mesoderm and Coelom formation in the arrow worm Spadella cephalopthera
Supervisor: Tim Wollesen
Feliciano Fronda Ordonez June
Project: Neuronal cell type development in the chaetognath Spadella cephaloptera (Busch, 1851)
Supervisor: Tim Wollesen
Katharina Florentine Wechselberger
Project: Analysis of the main factors influencing the behaviour of wireworms (Coleoptera:Elateridae) as a basis for the optimization of available crop protection measures on arable land
Supervisors: Harald Krenn & Gerhard Bedlan (BOKU)
ResearchGateORCID
Stefan Pavloski
Project: Cooption of fibroblast activation in the origin of endometrial decidualization, a process crucial for the evolution of mammalian pregnancy
Supervisors: Mihaela Pavlicev & Günther Wagner
Georgios Efthymiadis
Project: Shedding light on the evolution of a blind cavefish
Supervisor: Luise Kruckenhauser
Matthäus Greilhuber
Project: Population genomics of large branchiopods in the Pannonian Basin
Supervisors: Luise Kruckenhauser & Martin Schwentner
ResearchGateORCID
Google Scholar
Giulia Manso Marchioro
Project: Functional diversity of coral fluorescent proteins in mesophotic reefs
Supervisor: Luise Kruckenhauser
Katharina Mason
Project: When genetics contradicts morphology: How does this affect our species concepts?
Supervisor: Elisabeth Haring
Anna Maria Pyttlik
Project: Evolvability of inner and middle ears in birds and mammals
Supervisors: Philipp Mitteröcker & Anne Le Maitre