Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex
I am an evolutionary biologist fascinated by the causes that underlie the origins and diversity of the Animal Kingdom. I am interested in the evolution of animals, systematics, body plans and their genomes. My primary focuses are molecular phylogenetics and comparative genomics, mixing zoology (especially "invertebrates"), genetics, molecular biology, developmental biology, phylogeography and biodiversity.
Some of the organisms I have worked on are multicellular animals (Metazoa), the Opisthokonta (eukaryote super-group including animals, fungi and choanoflagellates among other lesser known but important groups), the super-clade Lophotrochozoa, the Platyhelminthes (flatworms), the puzzling Acoelomorpha, the enigmatic Xenoturbella, the Gastrotricha, and the Pacific oyster.
These bizarre creatures defy what we think we know about plants and animals
Nov 26, 2016 06:00 am UTC| Nature
You might have played the game called animal, vegetable, mineral. One player thinks of an object or organism and the other players ask questions to try to guess what it is starting with this simple classification. But...
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