Meeting Abstract
Ostracods are a compelling clade for evolutionary and developmental biology studies as they are basally branching crustaceans. Crustaceans in general display a wide-variety of developmental strategies and are morphologically diverse. However, the evolution of many compelling crustacean features – such as diverse limbs and sensory systems – are not well understood due to a lack of sampling across clades. We are currently using Euphilomedes (Myodocopida; Sarsielloidea; Philomedidae) as a novel model for studying evolution and development within Ostracoda. Some species of Euphilomedes are easy to collect and maintain in the lab through all stages of development, transcriptomes have been sequenced from two species, and they exhibit the compelling feature of highly dimorphic eye morphology. We focus here on three major research programs in our lab: 1) Early cell division and migration patterns 2) Gene expression differences underlying sexually dimorphic eye types 3) Ecological factors driving the evolution of sexually dimorphic eyes.
