Rory Cooper

I am an evolutionary developmental biologist undertaking a PhD at The University of Sheffield, UK, supervised by Dr. Gareth Fraser and Dr. Nicola Nadeau.

My research addresses the evolution and development of skin appendages in diverse jawed vertebrate groups, including elasmobranches (sharks, skates and rays), squamates (lizards and snakes) and aves (birds), at the cellular and molecular levels. These comparative developmental studies facilitate the inference of evolutionary relationships between vertebrate skin appendages, and help us to understand the mechanisms governing their patterning and morphogenesis.

Most of my research to date has mostly focused upon shark denticles and teeth.