DBBS Faculty Information James M. Cheverud, Ph.D . My research is in quantitative genetics and morphology. My work in quantitative genetics concerns the genetic architecture of complex traits and how this architecture facilitates and constrains evolutionary change.
Genetic architecture is the genetic basis for quantitative trait variation.
We are actively investigating the genetic architecture of body size, body composition, obesity and skeletal morphology in an intercross of inbred mouse strains using quantitative trait locus approaches. We already have identified a series of genes affecting body weight and weight growth, fatness, mandibular and cranial morphology, and morphological asymmetry. We are now examining the epistatic interactions of these loci and the evolutionary consequences of epistasis for evolution under genetic drift and selection. We also are examining the consequences of genetic architecture for the evolution of skull morphology in New and Old World Monkeys. Previous quantitative genetic analyses of skull morphology are being combined with morphometric and phylogenetic analyses to test hypotheses of genetic drift and selection as causes of interspecific morphological diversity.