Unit for Theoretical Biology

Unit for Theoretical Biology

The work in our unit is motivated by theoretical and conceptual questions in organismal evolutionary biology. Systemic properties of organisms, such as developmental and physiological processes, as well as their interactions with the environment, strongly influence their ability to respond to selection and to evolve. Our goal is to identify and understand these interactions in order to explain how the enormous diversity of life has evolved and continues to evolve. In pursuit of this general goal, we apply and advance theoretical, biometric, comparative, and experimental research methods.

Latest News

06.08.2026
 

New paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution

Evolution of an amphibian-specific family of epidermal differentiation-associated genes.

More
08.07.2026
 

Congratulations!

Georg Ehrlich

Demography and Morphometry of Fire-Bellied Toads in Two Contrasting Habitats in Obere Lobau, Vienna
More
06.07.2026
 

New paper in Annals of the Natural History Museum of Vienna

Does phylogenetic conservatism obscure the trophic ecology of the Small-Eyed Goby Austrolethops wardi Whitley, 1935 (Teleostei, Gobiidae), an...
More
03.07.2026
 

Emese Tóth

Senescence and the Evolution of Life History and Evolvability

More
20.06.2026
 

New paper in Communications Biology

Hoxc13 and homologs of mammalian hair keratins are required for the

cornification of nuptial pads in Xenopus frogs.
More
06.05.2026
 

New paper in Biological Reviews

Humans are not unique: difficult birth is common in placental mammals
More