Responsibilities
Systematic Zoology
Contact
Room:
Biozentrum B01.052
Phone:
+49 89 21 80 - 74132
Email:
muschick@bio.lmu.de
Research Interests
I am an evolutionary biologist focussing on diversification and eco-evolutionary dynamics in adaptive radiations of cichlids and other fishes. My research aims to address fundamental questions about the processes and drivers of ecological adaptation and speciation, as well as the consequences of extinction. For that purpose, we use subfossils from geologically recent lake sediments as well as museum specimens for ancient DNA analysis. Adopting the latest methodology and developing it further, we can access even very poorly preserved samples for genetic analysis which allows for a unique view of evolutionary processes acting over time.
In bachelor's and master’s projects, I teach students both wet lab and computational methods to study biodiversity, for example to phylogenetically place rare or extinct species, assess the genetic diversity of past populations, or gauge the impact of past environmental perturbations on the composition of communities of species. Projects may focus on museum specimens from the Bavarian State Collection for Zoology or environmental records such as lake sediment cores from lakes in Bavaria or abroad.
