Research

I am an Assistant Professor at the Biotechnical Faculty, Ljubljana University. My research aims to understand how the convergent evolution of complex traits unfolds on the genomic level. One of the model systems I focus on is the olm (Proteus anguinus), a long-lived salamander adapted to cave life. The olm can live over a hundred years, regenerate its limbs, and is Europe’s largest obligate cave animal, with its characteristic cave traits – eye and pigmentation loss, elongate limbs and snout – earning it a place in many nature documentaries and even a mention in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species . To untap the genomic changes associated with the olm’s extraordinary evolution and its complex phenotypes, me and my collaborators have sequenced its large genome.

More generally, my research focuses on how species and their traits have evolved over time. I am interested in the environmental and evolutionary drivers that trigger lineage diversification and trait transitions. Understanding why biodiversity arises is one important aspect, the other one being how it becomes established on the level of an organism’s genome. To answer the why’s and how’s of diversification and adaptation I use a combination of ecological, phylogenetic, population genetic and genomic tools in a statistical framework. To test the generality of evolutionary mechanisms, I  use replicate systems and traits that evolved repeatedly in convergence.It is an exciting time for studying the genomic architecture of complex phenotypic traits. The increasing accuracy of technological and methodological tools for analyzing vast amounts of genomic data provide unprecedented opportunities for unraveling the code of how phenotypes are created. This can even be possible for decoding phenotypic transitions that occurred in the deep evolutionary past millions of years ago. The foundation for such research is the collection of invaluable biological samples and data.

From an organismal perspective, I am a very keen on studying the evolution of amphibians and reptiles, focusing on an impressive set of adaptive traits that they evolved in convergence (such as viviparity, cave forms, sex determination,  colouration, ecomorphology, etc.).  I have also worked on different freshwater fishes to understand mechanisms of adaptive radiations.

If you want to find out more on my research, please check my publications or my Google Scholar or ResearchGate profile