Evolutionary Biology

In the research concentration Evolutionary Biology, the Department of Biology analyzes what caused the origin and maintenance of biological diversity: By which genomic and functional mechanisms do individuals and populations adapt to their environment? Which strategies ensure their survival? Which evolutionary relationships exist between various organisms? How do species boundaries occur and what factors allow them to be transgressed again? What are the consequences of hybridization?

To answer these questions, research in this topic investigates the functions and mechanisms in behavioral and human biology that underpin individual decision-making strategies involved in maximizing reproductive fitness. In Evolutionary Biology, Physiology and Population Genomics, adaptations to environmental conditions and their specific signals are analyzed. As in biodiversity research, the reconstruction of speciation events and species boundaries using molecular methods and the study of structural characteristics plays a pivotal role in evolutionary biology research. Multiple research groups also collaborate to uncover and analyze the causes and consequences for the convergence of distinct evolutionary lineages through hybridization.

The following working groups contribute to the research concentration Evolutionary Biology:

• Behavioural Biology (Prof. Dr. Jutta Schneider)
• Evolutionary Immunogenomics (Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz)
• History of Science (Prof. Dr. Stefan Kirschner)
• Molecular Evolutionary Biology (Prof. Dr Susanne Dobler)
• Systematics and Evolution of Plants (Prof. Dr. Jens Gunter Rohwer)

Junior Research Groups

• Neuroendocrinology (Jun.-Prof. Dr. Esther Diekhof)
• Population Genomics (Jun. Prof. Dr. Mathilde Cordellier)

The following associated professorships contribute to the research concentration Evolutionary Biology:

• Biodiversity of Animals, Center for Natural History (CeNak; Prof. Dr. Matthias Glaubrecht)
• Herpetology and Ornithology, Center for Natural History (CeNak; Prof. Dr. Alexander Haas)
• Herbarium Hamburgense (Dr. Matthias Schultz)