Investigated Questions
I am generally interested in the evolution and development of the vertebrate body plan and the relationship between ontogeny and phylogeny throughout the evolutionary history of tetrapods. My current research focuses on the evolutionary and developmental biology of amphibians. I use an integrative approach that combines data from extant taxa and the fossil record to develop a broad perspective for the evolutionary history of amphibians through deep time. Therein, the combined study of developmental patterns and processes in crown group amphibians and fossil taxa offers the unique possibility to gain an understanding for the evolution of developmental pathways and the acquisition of the derived morphologies seen in modern forms.
Topics that are currently researched in my lab are limb development, the evolution of limb and tail regeneration, the early evolution of modern amphibians, lissamphibians, and the evolution and development of vertebral centra in fossil tetrapods.
Cooperation partners
- Prof. Igor Schneider, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belem, Brazil
- Prof. Pavel Skutchas, University of St. Petersburg, Russia
Selected Publications
- van der Vos W, Witzmann F, Fröbisch NB. Tail regeneration in the paleozoic tetrapod microbrachis pelikani and comparison with extant salamanders and squamates. Journal of Zoology:n/a-n/a.
- Danto M, Witzmann F, Pierce SE, Fröbisch NB. Intercentrum versus pleurocentrum growth in early tetrapods: A paleohistological approach. Journal of Morphology:n/a-n/a.
- Fröbisch NB, Bickelmann C, Olori JC, Witzmann F. 2015. Deep-time evolution of regeneration and preaxial polarity in tetrapod limb development. Nature 527:231-234.
- Fröbisch N, Bickelmann C, Witzmann F. 2014. Early evolution of limb regeneration in tetrapods: Evidence from a 300-million-year-old amphibian. Proceedings Biological sciences/The Royal Society 281:20141550.
- Fröbisch NB, Fröbisch J, Sander PM, Schmitz L, Rieppel O. 2013. Macropredatory ichthyosaur from the middle triassic and the origin of modern trophic networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:1393-1397.
- Fröbisch N, Shubin N. 2011. Salamander limb development: Integrating genes, morphology, and fossils. Developmental Dynamics. 240:1087 - 1099.
- Fröbisch NB, Olori JC, Schoch RR, Witzmann F. 2010. Amphibian development in the fossil record. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 21:424-431.
- Fröbisch NB. 2008. Ossification patterns in the tetrapod limb – conservation and divergence from morphogenetic events. Biological Reviews 83:571-600.