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Welcome! » Faculty » C. Darrin Hulsey


C. Darrin Hulsey

Research Interests

My lab studies the evolution of complex morphological phenotypes. Although we work on a large number of aquatic organisms and phenotypes ranging from pectoral fin swimming in Lake Malawi Cichlids to anti-predator defenses in snails, our research is largely concentrated on the feeding apparatus of fish. The jaws of fishes offer an ideal organismal phenotype for examining the forces that structure functional adaptation in a complex system. Within cichlid fishes for example, a huge number of historically independent and convergent trophic phenotypes have arisen through modifications of conserved musculoskeletal elements that comprise their highly kinetic skull. This replicated evolutionary framework provides the power to address broad questions concerning the mechanisms underlying the evolution of ecological novelty.

In both the field and in the lab, we experimentally determine performance capabilities in live organisms to experimentally test if phenotypes we model as simple machines like levers or force-resisting structures exhibit mechanical tradeoffs in vivo. This approach allows us to examine the functional consequences of both predatory abilities and anti-predatory defenses to quantitatively elucidate the mechanistic properties of adaptations in predator-prey interactions. Our work also integrates phylogenetic reconstruction and population genetics to provide evolutionary maps for understanding when and how traits arise. These evolutionary studies that often lie at the interface of micro- and macroevolution allow us to place phenotypic novelties that arise plastically and/or have a genetic basis within a comparative framework. Currently, we are working to incorporate studies of gene expression and quantitative genetics into microevolutionary analyses in order to understand how developmental genetic changes occur within populations where functional novelties arise.

Education

  • 2004 - Ph.D., University of California, Davis

Selected Publications

  • Hulsey, C.D., M.C. Mims, and J.T. Streelman. 2007. Do constructional constraints influence cichlid craniofacial diversification? Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) Series B. 274, 1867–1875.
  • Johnson, S.G., C.D. Hulsey, and F.J. García de León. 2007. Spatial mosaic evolution of snail defensive traits. BMC Evolutionary Biology.
  • Hulsey, C.D., F.J. García de León, and R. Rodiles-Hernández.  2006.  Micro- and macroevolutionary decoupling of cichid jaws:  a test of Liem’s key innovation hypothesis.  Evolution.  60:  2096-2109.
  • Hulsey, C.D.  2006.  Function of a key morphological innovation:  fusion of the cichlid pharyngeal jaw.  Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) Series B.  273:  669-675.
  • Hulsey, C.D., G.J. Fraser, and J.T. Streelman.  2005.  Evolution and development of complex biomechanical systems: 300 million years of fish jaws.  Zebrafish.  2: 243-257.
  • Wainwright, P.C., M.E. Alfaro, D.I. Bolnick, and C.D. Hulsey.  2005.  Many-to-one mapping of form to function: a general principle in organismal design.  Integrative and Comparative Biology.  45:  256-262.
  • Hulsey, C.D., F.J. García de León, Y. Sanchez-Johnson, D.A. Hendrickson, and T.J.
    Near.  2004.  Temporal diversification of Mesoamerican cichlid fishes across a
    major biogeographic boundary.  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.  31: 754-764.
C. Darrin Hulsey

Contact Information

C. Darrin Hulsey
Assistant Professor
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
527 Hesler Biology Bldg.
528 Hesler Biology Bldg. (Lab)
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1610

Phone: (865) 974-2189
Lab: (865) 974-1948
Email: chulsey@utk.edu