Arthropod sense organs

Evolution and Development

We are studying the development of various external and internal sense organs in spiders and flies.
We use Macro- and Micro-Evo Devo comparisons to reveal network changes underlying the diversification and evolution of sense organs regarding their number, distribution and type.

Spider Genome Evolution

Gene/Genome duplication

We reveal gene duplication events in spiders and study their impact on phenotypic diversification and evolutionary novelties.
We use comparative developmental biology to reveal differences in paralog expression and function with special focus on sense organ development.