Interdisciplinary research on hemichordate evolution

我们从哪里来？我们的祖先是什么？我的研究项目集中于后口动物的进化，后口动物是包括脊椎动物（和人类）在内的动物生命树的主要分支。后口动物由三个主要门组成：棘皮动物（海胆、海参和它们的近亲）、半足动物（橡子蠕虫和翼类）和脊索动物（包括脊椎动物）。我最感兴趣的是后口动物进化中的深层事件，包括一个问题——基底后口动物的本质是什么？我的研究表明，后口动物的祖先可能类似于一种enteropneust半足虫。我的研究项目采用多学科的方法，包括有机体和分子生物学、流体力学和古生物学来检验这一假设。

Where do we come from? What is our ancestry? My research program is focused on evolution of the deuterostomes, that major division of the animal tree of life that includes the vertebrates (and man). Deuterostomes consist of three major phyla: the echinoderms (sea urchins, sea cucumbers and their cousins), hemichordates (acorn worms and pterobranchs) and chordates (including the vertebrates). My greatest interest is in deep events within deuterostome evolution, including the question - what was the nature of the basal deuterostome? My studies have suggested that the ancestral deuterostome may have resembled an enteropneust hemichordate worm. My research program uses a multidiscipinary approach, including organismal and molecular biology, fluid mechanics, and paleontology to test this hypothesis.