Evolutionary Biology and Ecology

Telephone: (919) 962-6958

E-mail: dpfennig [at] unc [dot] edu

Office: 304 Wilson Hall

Mailing Address:
CB# 3280, Coker Hall
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280

Curriculum vitae  |  Publications  |  Lab Page

General research interests:

Developmental Plasticity; Phenotypic Evolution; Natural Selection and Adaptation; Kin Selection and Levels of Selection in Evolution; Species Interactions; Speciation; Macroevolution

Research synopsis:

Research in my lab revolves around two general topics.  First, my students and I seek to understand how and why living things diversify.  We are particularly interested in understanding how novel, complex traits arise and how they subsequently diversify.  We also study ecology’s role in the evolution of differences between species and in the origin of new species.  For this research, we focus on organisms that display polyphenic development, where a single genome produces two or more alternative phenotypes in response to an environmental cue (Fig. 1).  Our common perspective is that this sort of developmental plasticity may be crucial in the origins of both novelty and diversity.  To test this general idea, we study how polyphenism and natural selection interact to shape the expression of phenotypes in natural populations and how they jointly influence the process of diversification

Second, we study multilevel selection. This research investigates how evolutionary interactions among genes, cells, and organisms influence the way that organisms develop, function, and evolve, and how interactions among organisms, in turn, shape the evolution of lower level interactions. Much of this research uses cannibalistic amphibians (Fig. 2) to test how selection acting at the level of genes (mediated by kin selection) influences development and evolution at the level of individual organisms. The unifying theme of this research is that selection acting at one level can leave an important imprint on other levels, thereby generating the diverse behavioral and morphological phenotypes seen in nature.

Our research involves observations and experimental studies of selection and development in natural populations, laboratory experiments, and population genetic surveys of wild populations. Go to our lab home page for an overview of ongoing projects.