Nick Crouch

How can we more accurately estimate speciation rates through time? What drives discord between molecular phylogenetic and palaeontological rate estimates?

What aspects of life history, such as body size, affect rates of morphological evolution? Can we experimentally demonstrate macroevolutionary patterns in local habitats?

How can we better quantify ecological specialization? How does taxonomic revision impact delimitation of specialization? How does specialization influence the diversification of lineages?

How do abiotic and biotic factors affect song complexity? How has song evolved over both deep time and more recently through anthropogenic climate change?

I generally employ phylogenetic comparative methods, utilizing a combination of life history, molecular, and paleontological data. Using these methods, I am interested in a variety of questions about how species traits have changed over time, including both the way in which traits affect biodversity through time and, reciprocally, are affected by changing biodiversity.

I regularly develop scripts for the statistical program R for analyzing and visualizing my own data, as well as for use by the scientific community.

NICK CROUCH