About myself
I'm fascinated by how animals look the way they look. How does their morphology relate to the way they function? How is body shape influenced by evolution? And can body shape drive the evolution of traits? Linking ecomorphology with performance, biomechanics and evolution is my game.
Projects
Aquatic Ecosystem Resilience under Biological Invasions
source: Wikimedia Commons
An interdisciplinary project aimed to unravel the interactions between native and alien species in aquatic ecosystems. How do alien species adjust to new environments, and can native species adjust to this interference with the status quo? This project links functional morphology, performance, genetics, modelling and management tools.
Collaborators: Dr. Leo Nagelkerke, Dr. Bart Pollux, Dr. Hendrik-Jan Megens, Dr. Lisa Becking, Prof. Dr. Rob Leuven, Prof. Em. Dr. G. van der Velde, Prof. Dr. André de Roos, Dr. Casper van Leeuwen, Dr. Karen van de Wolfshaar.
Reproductive adaptations to reduce locomotor costs in viviparous fishes
Contrary to most fish species, fish of the Poeciliidae family give birth to live young. The internal development of their embryos lays a large burden on the swimming performance of the females. We hypothesize that two specific reproductive adaptations found in a number of species of Poeciliid fish can reduce the effect of pregnancy on swimming performance: placentation, in which the embryos are nourished through a dedicated structure during (part of) their development, and superfetation, the simultaneous presence of embryos of different developmental stages.
Collaborators: Prof. Dr. Johan van Leeuwen (promotor), Dr. Bart Pollux (co-promotor), Prof. Dr. David Reznick, Elsa Quicazan-Rubio, Cees Voesenek.
Publications