Evo-Devo of Colors

Lizards show a dazzling diversity of colour patterns. Some patterns evolved frequently and repeatedly, others rarely or never. We believe that we can better understand the evolution of lizard colouration by unravelling how patterns form during development.

Our current projects focus on the repeated evolution of colour patterns in Mediterranean wall lizards and a diamond-vs-chevron polymorphism in the brown anole Anolis sagrei. Each system provides opportunities to understand how genetic variation and cellular behaviour give rise to macroscopic patterns, allowing us to connect development to phenotypic innovation and evolvability.

In lizards, chromatophores arise from neural crest cells, and we suspect that the migratory behavior of these cells are important for the formation of color patterns. We study these processes by combining genomic and developmental genetic approaches, theoretical modelling of pattern formation, and use comparative approaches to connect development and evolution of color patterns.

If you want to know more:

Feiner, N., Yang, W., Bunikis, I., While, G.M. & Uller, T. 2024. Adaptive introgression reveals the genetic basis of a sexually selected syndrome in wall lizards. Science Advances 10:14

Feiner, N., Brun-Usan, M., Andrade, P., Pranter, R., Park, S., Menke, D. B., Geneva, A. J. & Uller, T. 2022. A single locus regulates a female-limited color pattern polymorphism in a reptile. Science Advances 8:10

A popular science summary of the evo-devo of colour patterns can be found here.