Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Current Research
Members of my group are variouslly using the fossil record to answer questions about large scale, ‘macroevolutionary’ processes. Between us, we are interested in how fossils can be useful in building phylogenies, how groups diversify though ‘design space’, and how shifts in developmental programs can underpin the largest, macroevolutionary changes.
Projects being undertaken by current members of my lab include:
- The phylogeny of Eumalacostraca using molecules, morphology and fossils
- Testing macroevolutionary trends, particularly patterns of disparity through time
- The congruence of phylogeny and stratigraphy
- The quality of phylogentic data
- How ‘shaky’ are phylogenetic trees including fossils?
- Fossilisation filters and the Tree of Life
- Building a supertree of arthropods
- Ontogenetic disparity and the evolution of molluscs
Goals
To improve our understanding of some of the deepest branches in animal evolution, and to evaluate the contribution that fossil make to resolving these.
To test the validity of putative macroevolutionary trends (e.g., early high morphological disparity and increasing complexity).
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 8 Finished
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Mark Puttick Fellowship : Biodiversity and The Sixth Mass Extinction
Wills, M. (PI)
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
1/12/17 → 30/11/20
Project: UK charity
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Susceptibility to Mass Extinctions: Ammonites as a Case Study
Wills, M. (PI) & Carley, M. (CoI)
Natural Environment Research Council
1/02/14 → 28/02/17
Project: Research council
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The Arthropod Supertree of Life: An Online Interactive Resource for Testing patterns in Arthropod Evolution
Wills, M. (PI) & Davis, K. (CoI)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
1/12/12 → 30/04/16
Project: Research council
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Syn Tax (Fellow: Katie Davis) - Building the Arthropod Supertree Interactively: Malacostracan Crustaceans as a Test Case
Wills, M. (PI)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
10/10/11 → 9/04/12
Project: Research council
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Quantifying the configurational complexity of biological systems in multivariate “complexity space”
Rock, T. & Wills, M., 29 Jan 2025, In: Journal of the Royal Society, Interface.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Bird clades with less complex appendicular skeletons tend to have higher species richness
Brinkworth, A., Green, E., Li, Y., Oyston, J., Ruta, M. & Wills, M., 31 Dec 2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 1, 13 p., 5817.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (SciVal) -
Divergent vertebral formulae shape the evolution of axial complexity in mammals
Li, Y., Brinkworth, A., Green, E., Oyston, J., Wills, M. & Ruta, M., 6 Mar 2023, In: Nature Ecology & Evolution. 7, 3, p. 367-381 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access6 Citations (SciVal) -
It’s reassuring to think humans are evolution’s ultimate destination – but research shows we may be an accident
Wills, M. & Ruta, M., 5 Sept 2023, The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
Open Access -
Life on Our Planet: evolution experts review this ‘hugely entertaining’ Netflix docuseries
Rock, T. & Wills, M., 24 Oct 2023, The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
Open Access