Featured Publications
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Evolution of the Gene Network Underlying Wing Polyphenism in Ants
Why are queens winged while workers are not? This research uncovered how developmental changes shaped one of the most important innovations in ant evolution, helping fuel the remarkable success of ant societies.
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Past climate change on Sky Islands drives novelty in a core developmental gene network and its phenotype
Arizona's Sky Islands provided a natural experiment for exploring how populations adapt to environmental change. By comparing isolated ant populations, this research uncovered new insights into the predictable—and surprising—patterns of evolution.
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Ancestral Developmental Potential Facilitates Parallel Evolution in Ants
This landmark study revealed that ants can retain hidden developmental potential for millions of years, allowing long-lost "supersoldier" castes to reappear. The findings provide new insight into how evolution repeatedly generates biological innovation.
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Abouheif E
Evolutionary Ecology Research / December 1999
When scientists compare traits across species, how do they know those traits are truly independent? This paper introduces a statistical method for testing whether similarities between species may instead reflect their shared evolutionary history—helping researchers make more reliable comparisons across the tree of life.
A Method for Testing the Assumption of Phylogenetic Independence in Comparative Data
Abouheif E
Evolutionary Ecology Research / December 1999
When scientists compare traits across species, how do they know those traits are truly independent? This paper introduces a statistical method for testing whether similarities between species may instead reflect their shared evolutionary history—helping researchers make more reliable comparisons across the tree of life.
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