From Principles to Mechanisms
Part of the 2013–2014 Fellows Presentation Series
At Radcliffe, Arkhat Abzhanov is focusing on elucidating the principles of important evolutionary phenomena from the perspective of a developmental geneticist. In particular, he plans to address the question of both large- and small-scale evolutionary transitions within birds, one of the most successful and diverse groups of organisms on earth. His research group is using a combined approach—which includes morphometric analysis, comparative embryology of key representative species, and functional experimentation—to reveal changes in the developmental (embryological) process that both led to the emergence of birds as a distinct group and underlie continuing adaptive diversification among modern birds.