Research Areas

Developmental Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Paleobiology, Theory, Tropical Biology

Research Interests

Our lab seeks to harness the diversity of mammals to identify processes driving change in organisms during their lives and in lineages over time and to inform challenges in human health. Current topics of study include the developmental basis of bats' and marsupials' unique phenotypes and the developmental, cellular, and molecular basis of aging in bats.

Selected Publications

Cooper, L.N, Ansari, M.Y., Capshaw, C., Lauer, A.M., Moss, C.F., Sears, K.E., Stewart, M., Teeling, E.C., Wilkinson, G.S., Wilson, R.C., Zwaka, T., and Orman, R. (2024) Bats as a Promising Animal Model to Study Longevity and Aging. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1541(1):10-23. DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15233

Sadier, A., Anthwal, N., Krause, A.L., Dessalles, R., Lake, M., Bentolila, L., Haase, R., Nieves, N., Santana, S., and Sears, K.E. (2023). Bat teeth illuminate the diversification of mammalian tooth classes. Nature Communications 14: 4687. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40158-4

Lu, A. et al, including Sears, K.E. (2023). Universal DNA methylation age across mammalian tissues. Nature Aging. DOI: 10.1038/s43587-023-00462-6.

Anthwal, N., Urban, D.J., Sadier, A., Takenaka, R. Spiro, S., Simmons, N., Behringer, R.R., Cretekos, C.J., Rasweiler, J.J., and Sears, K.E. (2023). Insights into the Initiation and Diversification of a Novel Chiropteran Wing Membrane from Embryonic Development. BMC Biology 21: 101. DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01598-y

Horvath, S., Haghani, A., Zoller, J.A., Raj, K., Sinha, I., Talbot, A., Ruiz, Y.A., and Sears, K.E. (2022). Epigenetic clock and methylation studies in gray short-tailed opossums. Geroscience. DOI: 10.1007/s11357-022-00569-5