Research in Wiens’ lab has three main areas: (1) using an integrative phylogenetic approach to address general conceptual questions in evolutionary biology and ecology, (2) the theory and methods of phylogenetics, and (3) the phylogeny, evolution, and ecology of reptiles and amphibians. Within these general areas, we address a variety of specific topics, including species richness patterns, speciation, niche evolution and conservatism, life-history evolution, adaptive radiation, ecological diversification, rates and patterns of morphological change, phylogenomics, and responses of species to climate change. We combine collection and analysis of genetic, morphological, ecological, and physiological data (in the lab and field) with bioinformatic, computational, and theoretical approaches.
Wiens, J. J. 2016. Climate-related local extinctions are already widespread among plant and animal species. PLoS Biology 14:e2001104.
Streicher, J. W., J. A. Schulte, and J. J. Wiens. 2016. How should genes and taxa be sampled for phylogenomic analyses with missing data? An empirical study in iguanian lizards. Systematic Biology 65:128–145.
Wiens, J. J., R. T. Lapoint, and N. K. Whiteman. 2015. Herbivory increases diversification across insect clades. Nature Communications 6:8370.
Wiens, J. J. 2015. Faster diversification on land than sea helps explain global biodiversity patterns among habitats and animal phyla. Ecology Letters 18:1234–1241.
Wiens, J. J. 2015. Explaining large-scale patterns of vertebrate diversity. Biology Letters 11:20150506.