Welcome to the Revell lab webpages
This website contains information about research in the laboratory of Dr. Liam Revell.
Research in the Revell lab takes place in two main areas: evolutionary ecology of lizards; and computational method development for evolutionary biology.
Much of Liam's present research is concentrated on methods for comparative biology. Please check out Liam's development blog and his R phylogenetics (phytools) page.
Contact information
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston.
Office: Wheatley Hall, 3rd floor, W-03-015.
Phone: 617-287-7259 (office); 617-287-6049 (lab); 314-580-3045 (cell).
Email: liam.revell@umb.edu.
Recent Publications (all publications)
Revell, L. J. In press. Two new graphical methods for mapping trait evolution on phylogenies. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. link
Reynolds, R. G., M. L. Niemiller, S. B. Hedges, A. Dornburg, A. R. Puente-Rolón, and L. J. Revell. In press. Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of West Indian boid snakes (Chilabothrus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. link
Puente-Rolón, A. R., R. G. Reynolds, and L. J. Revell. In press. Preliminary genetic analysis supports cave populations as targets for conservation in the endemic endangered Puerto Rican boa (Boidae: Epicrates inornatus). PLoS ONE. link
Muñoz, M. M., N. G. Crawford, T. J. McGreevy, N. J. Messana, R. D. Tarvin, L. J. Revell, R. M. Zandvliet, J. M. Hopwood, E. Mock, A. L. Schneider, and C. J. Schneider. 2013. Divergence in coloration and the evolution of reproductive isolation in the Anolis marmoratus species complex. Molecular Ecology 22: 2668-2682. PDF
Reynolds, R. G., A. R. Puente-Rolón, R. N. Reed, and L. J. Revell. 2013. Genetic analysis of a novel invasion of Puerto Rico by an exotic constricting snake. Biological Invasions 15: 953-959. PDF
Revell, L. J. 2013. A comment on the use of stochastic character maps to estimate evolutionary rate variation in a continuously valued trait. Systematic Biology 62: 339-345. PDF
Revell, L. J. and R. G. Reynolds. 2012. A new Bayesian method for fitting evolutionary models to comparative data with intraspecific variation. Evolution 66: 2697-2707. PDF
Revell, L. J. 2012. phytools: An R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods in Ecology and Evolution 3: 217-223. PDF
Slater, G. J., L. J. Harmon, D. Wegmann, P. Joyce, L. J. Revell, and M. E. Alfaro. 2012. Fitting models of continuous trait evolution to incompletely sampled comparative data using Approximate Bayesian Computation. Evolution 66: 752-762. PDF
Sanger, T. J., L. J. Revell, J. J. Gibson-Brown, and J. B. Losos. 2012. Repeated modification of early limb morphogenesis programs underlies the evolution of relative long bone length variation among Anolis lizards. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B 279: 739-748. PDF
Revell, L. J., D. L. Mahler, P. R. Peres-Neto, and B. D. Redelings. 2012. A new method for identifying exceptional phenotypic diversification. Evolution 66: 135-146. PDF supplementary appendix
Kolbe, J. J., L. J. Revell, B. Szekely, E. D. Brodie III, and J. B. Losos. 2011. Convergent evolution of phenotypic integration and its alignment with morphological diversification in Caribbean Anolis ecomorphs. Evolution 65: 3608-3624. PDF
Revell, L. J. 2010. Phylogenetic signal and linear regression on species data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 1: 319-329. PDF supplementary appendix
Mahler, D. L., L. J. Revell, R. E. Glor, and J. B. Losos. 2010. Ecological opportunity and the rate of morphological evolution in the diversification of Greater Antillean anoles. Evolution 64: 2731-2745. PDF supplementary appendix cover (photo by L. Mahler)
Lindenfors, P., L. J. Revell, and C. L. Nunn. 2010. Sexual dimorphism in primate aerobic capacity: A phylogenetic test. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 1183-1194. PDF supplementary appendix
Johnson, M. A., L. J. Revell, and J. B. Losos. 2010. Behavioral convergence and adaptive radiation: Effects of habitat use on territorial behavior in Anolis lizards. Evolution 64: 1151-1159. PDF
Lovely, K. R., D. L. Mahler, and L. J. Revell. 2010. The rate and pattern of tail autotomy in five species of Puerto Rican anoles. Evolutionary Ecology Research 12: 67-88. PDF
Revell, L. J., D. L. Mahler, J. R. Sweeney, M. Sobotka, V. E. Fancher, and J. B. Losos. 2010. Nonlinear selection and the evolution of variances and covariances for continuous characters in an anole. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 407-421. PDF supplementary appendix
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Photos from both our trip last fall to 