Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. Smets, Co-promotor: Dr. V.S.F.T. Merckx

The explosive radiation and diversification of the advanced snakes (superfamily Colubroidea) was associated with changes in all aspects of the shared venom system. Morphological changes included the partitioning of the mixed ancestral glands into two discrete glands devoted for production of venom ormucous…

How did digital intermediality symbolise and facilitate the transfer of content from popular culture into policy statements and vice versa in the period between 1945 and the new millenium?

Newts of which half of the offspring die before birth. Evolutionary biologist Ben Wielstra is investigating how this can exist in nature. In his research he collaborates with Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

An international team with researchers from Leiden revealed how a bacterium repurposed an internal system to control its movements. Movement control is very important in host invasion, which can lead to disease. Publication on 27 April in Nature Communications.

A study by an international group of scientists headed by Prof. Michael Richardson showed that asymmetry in the snake lungs manifests itself early in development.

Promotor: Prof.dr. P.G.L Klinkhamer

Ben Wielstra strives to unravel the evolution of balanced lethal systems. On 1 February he started his own lab at the Institute of Biology Leiden. Wielstra is one of five researchers at Leiden University who has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant in 2018 by the European Research Council. ERC Starting…

Which traits did change due to the invasion process of plants and how do these traits contribute to the invasiveness of such species. What is the role of carbohydrate accumulation? What is the function of carbohydrate accumulation in plants? Is genetic variation depleted in invasive species under se…

What the Sex Lives of Bugs, Birds, and Beasts Tell Us About Evolution, Biodiversity, and Ourselves, Menno Schilthuizen reports from the front lines of evolutionary biology, on a quest to make sense of the origins, workings and evolution of our and other species’ reproductive selves.

How do common marmosets combine their calls into sequences and how are their vocalisations influenced by reproductive state?

We study the link between the acoustic, behavioral and physiological health of birds and prominent pollution factors. We aim to explore causation through experimental studies on detrimental factors like traffic noise, particulate matter and chemical toxins. Our primary target is scientific progress…

Zijn sociale aspecten van anxiety-like gedrag bij zeer jonge zebravissen al aanwezig? Zijn deze afhankelijk van de coping style (persoonlijkheid) van het individu? Zijn deze gedragingen endocrien te moduleren, bv door oxytocine?

The emissions of the Chinese industrial sector alone comprise 24.1% of global emissions (7.8 GtCyr−1 in 2015). This makes Chinese industrial emissions of unique national and international relevance in climate policy. This study reports a literature survey that quantitatively describes the evolution…

Does Artifical Light at Night (ALAN) disrupt seasonal physiological and behavioral patterns in migrating freshwater fish?

Evolution acts via mutations in amino acid sequences. Substitution of essential amino acids leads to a nonfunctional protein. l.

The logic seems inescapable indeed. The bigger the population, the higher the probability it contains an Einstein. Hence, bigger populations are more likely to develop complex culture.

The Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) record throughout Europe is characterized by major changes in human behaviour.

A new analysis of the king cobra genome by Michael Richardson, Christian Henkel (IBL) and collaborators at the IBL and Naturalis, Helsinki and Singapore has been published in

A theoretical project on the insights gained by human (including infant), nonhuman animal and computational studies on artificial grammar learning; identifying the critical questions for future research by developing novel experimental and computational approaches to address these issues.

Evolution is all around you every day. This is the message of the new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) of Leiden University and Naturalis that begins on September 19.

Do humans and zebra finches share cognitive mechanisms that are important for speech perception?

A central and much debated topic in the study of language acquisition concerns the nature of the learning mechanisms that are required. Are the computational and learning mechanisms that guide learning about language structure special and specific to language or humans?

The Leiden University Shii Studies Initiative (LUSSI) is hosting a two-day online conference on Islam and Evolution.

Do natural soundscapes affect migratory decisions of fishes moving up and down rivers and is this process disturbed by vessel sounds?

Promotor: E. Gittenberger, Co-promotores: L.P. van Ofwegen; B.W. Hoeksema

Leiden archaeologist José Joordens has been awarded a Veni grant to develop her research on the role of climate change in early hominin evolution.

Do offshore windfarms affect the local biodiversity of the pelagic fish community and are fish deterred or attracted by sounds?

The origin and evolution of galaxies are closely linked to many different physical phenomena.

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-promotor: L. Juurlink

How does FoxP1 affect auditory perception on a behavioural and genomic level?

Nederland ligt in de periferie van het verhaal van menswording. De evolutie van onze familie vindt lang exclusief in Afrika plaats. En, als Europa eenmaal bewoond wordt door mensachtigen, ligt het zwaartepunt ten zuiden van onze streken. Toch heeft ons land een aantal interessante vindplaatsen en vondsten…

What are the phylogenetic relationships among the members of speciation bursts?

The Dutch organisation for scientific research NWO has announced that it will award an ENW-Klein grant to Marcellus Ubbink (LIC) for his research into the role of temperature in the evolution of enzymes. Sixteen grants have been awarded in total.

The Altai region has yielded a cluster of Middle and Upper Paleolithic stratified sites that have been recently excavated using a multidisciplinary approach.

We developed the bitterling as a unique, well-studied model organism in the area of the evolutionary ecology of brood parasitism. The bitterling-mussel relationship, interspecific mussel host preference, and mussel gill structure are studied in detail, to help understand the developmental adaptation…

Do understudied animals contain hidden species?

Are there acoustic cues for settlement stage larvae in deep-sea soundscapes around hydrothermal vents?

How is vegetative development regulated in plants and how does this affect a plant’s life history strategy?

We do it every day but barely give it a thought: chewing our food. But the ‘simple’ process of masticating food may have played a crucial role in the evolution of our jaws, facial muscles and teeth.

Galaxies are environments where gas coalesces, cools, and is converted into stars. However, it remains unclear the exact mechanisms through which galaxies acquire, redistribute and lose their gas.

In a letter initiated by Wil Roebroeks, among others, serious concerns were raised about three research papers claiming evidence for one of the earliest human occupations of Europe.

In this project we study the properties of statistical- and rule-learning mechanisms in relation to the acquisition and evolution of language. We ask to what extent these mechanisms are unique to humans - or to human language - by comparing the acquisition of vocal structure in two species: humans (infants)…

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-Promotor: F. Calle-Vallejo

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Schaye & Prof.dr. C. Steidel (California Institute of Technology)

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. Smets