Research in the Evolutionary Morphology Research Group (EvoMoRG) at the Department of Palaeontology of the University of Vienna is at the interface between palaeobiology and evolutionary developmental biology of vertebrates. For this we integrate living and fossil organisms, knowledge of their evolutionary relationships and past diversity patterns, and developmental biology, to provide a holistic understanding of their evolutionary history. We have particular interests in, but not restricted to, the evolutionary origin, morphological rate changes, adaptive trait developments, and diversity and disparity patterns of modern sharks, skates, and rays and bony fishes at the broadest temporal and spatial scales. Central questions that we seek to answer are why fishes became successful (in terms of taxonomic diversity or position within trophic food webs) or went extinct even when they were successful in deep time.
We are member of the Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution and the research network Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS) at the Unievrsity of Vienna.
Our lab has facilities for rock digestion, high-end micro-computed tomography (Bruker Skyscan 1173 Desktop-Micro-Computertomograph; click here for more information), 3D digital microscopy (Keyence VHX-6000, 20-2000x magnification), scanning electron microscopy, high performance computing for image data processing, micro- and macro-anatomical labs, and an aquarium infrastructure.

The EvoMoRG Lab Notice Board

In the Press
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New Publications
Fossil evidence for earlier radiation in istiophorid billfishes (Teleostei, Istiophoriformes) uncovered by comparative morphology of the caudal vertebrae			Hybodontiform shark remains (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Lower Triassic of Yunnan Province, China, with comments on hybodontiform diversity across the PTB
Towards a unifying systematic scheme of fossil and living billfishes (Teleostei, Istiophoridae)			Heterodonty and ontogenetic shift dynamics in the dentition of the tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier (Chondrichthyes, Galeocerdidae)
Decoding the dynamics of dental distributions: insights from shark demography and dispersal			The Phylogeny of rays and skates (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) based on morphological characters revisited.
Cranial morphology of the orectolobiform shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle, 1838			The musculotendinous system of mesopelagic fishes, part I: Stomiiformes (Teleostei).

Affiliations

Address

Department of Paleontology University of Vienna, Geozentrum Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2 1090 Vienna, Austria Contact