Department of Molecular Biosciences

By comparing the biology of jawless and jawed vertebrates, researchers can gain insight into the evolutionary origins of features that define vertebrate animals including humans, how differences in gene expression contribute to key differences in the body plan, and what the common ancestor of all vertebrates looked like. Image by T. Lawrence, Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Lampreys possess a ‘jaw-dropping’ evolutionary origin

Invasive, blood-sucking fish ‘may hold the key to understanding where we came from’

One of just two vertebrates without a jaw, sea lampreys that are wreaking havoc in Midwestern fisheries are simultaneously helping scientists understand the origins of two important