Allan Larson

Professor, Department of Biology

Office Contact Information

Office

Monsanto 413

Mailbox

Washington University in St. Louis
Campus Box 1137
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

Phone

(314) 935-4656

larson@wustl.edu

Laboratory Website

http://biology4.wustl.edu/larsonlab/

Research Interests

Allan Larson's research combines natural history and molecular biology to evaluate patterns and processes of evolution at multiple levels of biological complexity. Molecular phylogenetic approaches are used to study historical biogeography, genomic evolution, developmental and morphological evolution, and the genetic structures of natural populations. Salamanders and lizards constitute his main study systems. Procedures used include amplification and sequencing of mitochodrial and nuclear DNA. He offers courses and seminars at the graduate level in molecular evolution, macroevolution, and the history of evolutionary theory. His research and teaching feature interactions with Drs. Garland Allen, Jonathan Losos, Alan Templeton, and their associates.

Photo caption: An Asian salamander, Tylototriton, shanjing.

Selected Publications

Weisrock, D. W., K. H. Kozak and A. Larson. (2005) Phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial gene flow and introgression in the salamander, Plethodon shermani. Molecular Ecology 14:1457-1472.

Weisrock, D. W., L. J. Harmon and A. Larson. (2005) Resolving the deep phylogenetic relationships among salamander families: Analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear genomic data. Systematic Biology 54:758-777.

Kozak, K. H., A. Larson, R. M. Bonett and L. J. Harmon. (2005) Phylogenetic analysis of ecomorphological divergence, species coexistence, and diversification rates in dusky salamanders (Plethodontidae: Desmognathus). Evolution 59:2000-2016.

Kozak, K. H., D. W. Weisrock and A. Larson. (2006) Rapid lineage accumulation in a non-adaptive radiation: Phylogeographic analysis of diversification rates in eastern North American woodland salamanders (Plethodontidae: Plethodon). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 273:539-546.

Kozak, K. H., R. A. Blaine and A. Larson. (2006) Gene lineages and eastern North American palaeodrainage basins: phylogeography and speciation in salamanders of the Eurycea bislineata species complex. Molecular Ecology 15:191-207.

Nicholson, K. E., A. Mijares-Urrutia, and A. Larson. (2006) Molecular phylogenetics of the Anolis onca series: a case history in retrograde evolution revisited. Journal of Experimental Zoology (Molecular and Developmental Evolution) In press, prepublished online.(Abstract/PDF)