lab profile
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Rui Diogo Howard University
Dep. Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, 520 W Street, NW
Washington, DC 20059
US
Rui_Diogo@hotmail.com
2026510439
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| PI: |
YES |
| Taxa Studied: |
Vertebrate Animals, Other, Mainly vertebrates, but also with some other chordates, e.g. sea squirts |
| Techniques Employed: |
Antibody Staining, Sectioning for Histology |
| Research Description: |
1- Primate Comparative Anatomy - Publication of musculoskeletal atlases for each group of extant apes and for other primate taxa - Production of websites and databases including photographs, tables, literature reviews, CT and MRI scans and 3D reconstructions of the soft tissues of apes and other primates - Documentation of the ontogeny and variations/anomalies of the soft tissues of modern humans and non-human primates, and discussion of the medical implications and applications of the data obtained 2- Primate Phylogeny and Evolution - Parsimony and Bayesian analyses of the higher-level phylogeny of primates exclusively based on soft-tissues - Muscles vs bones, soft tissues vs hard tissues, and morphology vs molecules in phylogenetic reconstructions - Homology, homoplasy, convergences, reversions, and anatomical complexity within the evolutionary history of primates 3- Chordate Comparative Anatomy - Dissections and imaging of the musculo-skeletal system of non-vertebrate groups such as sea squirts and of each major group of vertebrates, including taxa such as skates, actinopterygians, dipnoans, turtles, crocodilians, birds, squamates, anurans, caecilians, urodeles, monotremes, marsupials, rodents, bats, flying lemurs, tree-shrews, and primates - Publications of Tables providing homology hypotheses and a list of synonymies for each muscle of each of these taxa 4- Chordate Phylogeny and Evolution - Cladistic analyses of the higher-level phylogeny of chordates and of the relationships of various subgroups (e.g., teleosts, ostariophysans, catfish) based on hard-tissue and soft-tissue characters - Cladistic analyses of various groups (e.g., sturgeons, ostariophysans, teleosts) based on molecular characters - Muscles vs bones, soft tissues vs hard tissues, and morphology vs molecules in phylogenetic reconstructions - Homology, homoplasy, convergences, reversions, and anatomical complexity within the evolutionary history of chordates 5- Chordate Developmental Biology - Dissections and imaging of the musculo-skeletal system of non-vertebrate groups such as sea squirts and of each major group of vertebrates, including taxa such as skates, zebrafish, turtles, lizards, frogs, salamanders, chicken, marsupials, mice, bats, and primates - Parallelism between ontogeny and phylogeny - Analyses of anatomical variants/anomalies: comparative, evolutionary, developmental and genetic perspectives 6-Chordate Functional Morphology - Dissections and functional analyses of the musculo-skeletal system of non-vertebrate groups such as sea squirts and of each major group of vertebrates, including taxa such as skates, actinopterygians, dipnoans, turtles, crocodilians, birds, squamates, anurans, caecilians, urodeles, monotremes, marsupials, rodents, bats, flying lemurs, tree-shrews, and primates - Publications of functional schemes and interpretations (e.g., evolution of the feeding mechanisms, of locomotion, of sound-producing mechanisms, of the pectoral girdle, of vocal communication, of facial expressions, among others) based on anatomical and biomechanical analyzes 7- Philosophy, History and Biases of Science - Philosophy of Science - History of Science (e.g., Owen, Lamarck, Darwin, Huxley, Gould, first discoveries and descriptions of primates and apes) - Biases in Natural Sciences (e.g., Cordelia's Dilemma and evolutionary trends/progress, racism and eurocentrism) |
| Lab Web Page: |
http://www.ruidiogolab.com |
| Willing to Host Undergraduates: |
YES |
| Actively Seeking Undergraduates: |
YES |
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