Prof. Nadia Fröbisch, Ph.D.

Research Focus

• Evolution and Development of fossil and extant amphibians
• Evolution and developmentof of the tetrapod limb
• Evolution of high regenerative capacities in vertebrates

Research

Research in my lab generally focusses on 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.

Selected Publications

Darnet, S. et al. (2019). Deep evolutionary origin of limb and fin regeneration. PNAS 116(30): 15106-15115;.

Bickelmann, C., Frot-Lima, G., Kamenz, S., Kawaguchi, A., Schneider, I. & Fröbisch, N.B. (2018). Noncanonical Hox , Etv4 , and Gli3 gene activities give insight into unique limb patterning in salamanders. J. Exp. Zool. Part B. 330(3).

Van der Vos, W. Witzmann, F. Fröbisch, N. B. (2018). Tail regeneration in the Paleozoic tetrapod Microbrachis pelikani and comparison with extant salamanders and squamates. J. of Zoology 304:34-44.

Fröbisch, N. B., Bickelmann, C., Olori, J. C. & Witzmann, F. (2015). Deep time evolution of regeneration and preaxial polarity in tetrapod limb development. Nature DOI 10.1038/nature15397.

Fröbisch, N. B., Bickelmann, C. & Witzmann, F. (2014). Early evolution of limb regeneration in tetrapods - evidence from a 300-million-year-old amphibian. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Fröbisch, N. B., Fröbisch, J., Sander, P. M., Schmitz, L. & Rieppel, O. (2013). Macropredatory ichthyosaur from the Middle Triassic and the origin of modern trophic networks. PNAS 110(4): 1393-1397.

Fröbisch, N. B. & Reisz, R. R. (2012). A new dissorophid (Cacops sp. nov.) from the Lower Permian deposits of the Dolese Quarry, near Richards Spur, Oklahoma. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(1): 35-44.

Fröbisch, N.B. & N.H. Shubin. (2011). Salamander limb development: Integrating genes, morphology, and  and fossils. Developmental Dynamics 240(5), 1087-1099.

Fröbisch, N. B., Olori, J. C., Schoch, R. R. & Witzmann, F. (2010). Amphibian ontogeny in the fossil record. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 21:424-431.

Fröbisch, N. B. & Schoch, R. R. (2009). Testing the Impact of Miniaturization on Phylogeny: Paleozoic Dissorophoid Amphibians. Systematic Biology 58(3):312-327.

Fröbisch, N. B. (2008). Ossification patterns in the tetrapod limb – conservation and divergence from morphogenetic events. Biological Reviews 83: 571-600.

Anderson, J. S., Reisz, R. R., Scott, D., Fröbisch, N.B. & Sumida, S. S. (2008). A stem batrachian from the Early Permian of Texas and the origin of frogs and salamanders. Nature 453: 515-518.

Fröbisch, N. B., Carroll R. L. & Schoch, R. R. (2007). Limb ossification in the Paleozoic branchiosaurid Apateon (Temnospondyli) and the early evolution of preaxial dominance in tetrapod limb development. Evolution & Development 9(1): 69-75.

Schoch, R. R. & Fröbisch, N. B. (2006). Metamorphosis and neoteny: alternative pathways in an extinct amphibian clade. Evolution 60 (7): 1467-1475.