From a single common ancestor, a plethora of lineages have evolved to inhabit our planet. Through evolutionary time, some of these have flourished while others floundered. Many have long gone extinct, whereas a few are undergoing extraordinary radiations on Earth today. Research in the Schuettpelz Lab aims to uncover the diversity of life around us, as well as the patterns and macroevolutionary processes that underlie diversification. Our focus is on seed-free plants. Much of our inquiry is systematic in nature, integrating field work, morphological and molecular data, and phylogenetic approaches and emphasizing species delimitation and the identification of phylogenetic relationships.
