How do organisms evolve new traits?

Sea robins are marine fish that live on the bottom of the ocean and have multiple examples of evolutionary innovations. These include 1) expanded, wing-like pectoral fins, 2) free fin rays (called “legs”) that are separated from the pectoral fin, 3) the ability to walk and probe the substrate with the new legs, and 4) new neural lobes in the spinal cord that support the unique sensory and locomotory capabilities.

In collaboration with the Marine Biological Laboratory (https://www.mbl.edu/), we have been developing sea robins as a research organism that can be used to test evolutionary hypotheses. Our lab uses  comparative genomics and experimental approaches in sea robins, sticklebacks, and zebrafish, to probe the genetic mechanisms behind some of the fascinating examples of skeletal, muscular, and neural innovations seen in nature.