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Researcher

Simon Baeckens

  • Research Expertise  (University of Antwerp):Simon Baeckens is an organismal and evolutionary biologist interested in the speed and predictability of evolution. His research integrates behavioural, ecological, functional morphological, and phylogenetic studies to understand how, and how fast, animals adapt to (human-induced rapid and extreme) environmental change. He emphasizes both experimental and comparative observational approaches to evolutionary questions and typically turn to lizards as model organism. studies the evolution of morphological diversity in reptiles and examines how design relates to function. He focuses on traits that are ecologically relevant, such as the communication system (incl. signal design and sensory apparatus) and the integumentary system (incl. skin surface structure and skin appendages, such as claws). In his studies, he combines a variety of experimental approaches in an explicit phylogenetic comparative framework.
  • Keywords  (Ghent University):evolution, functional morphology, skin adaptations, island biology, comparative biology, lizards
  • Keywords  (University of Antwerp):EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY, ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIP, FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY, COMPARATIVE ECOLOGY, ANIMAL ECOLOGY, LIZARDS, EVOLUTIONARY MORPHOLOGY, Biology
  • Disciplines  (Ghent University):Phylogeny and comparative analysis, Behavioural ecology, Biology of adaptation
  • Disciplines  (University of Antwerp):Animal ecology, Animal morphology, anatomy and physiology, Vertebrate biology, Behavioural ecology, Biology of adaptation, Biology of behaviour, Phylogeny and comparative analysis
  • Research techniques  (University of Antwerp):Behavioural observations; Gel-based stereo-profilometry; Geometric morphometrics; MicroCT imaging; Phylogenetic comparative statistics; Tests of whole-animal performance.