Gunter Wagner

The research interests pursued in the Wagner lab can be roughly divided in two groups: 1) empirical work that relates to the developmental evolution of morphological characters; and 2) conceptual and mathematical work on the theory of evolution. 

The common denominator of these two directions is the evolution of complex characters. Morphological characters are not the only complex characters worth considering but they are the paradigm of and the best understood examples of complex characters. Currently the most promising empirical approach to the evolution of complex characters is to study the genes that influence their development (e.g., the evolution of Hox genes) as well as to study the evolution of the developmental process itself.