Welcome to the Coates Lab!

We sit at the crossroads of evolutionary developmental biology, paleobiology, and anatomy. Our research interests are wide-ranging, and broadly fall under the evolution and diversity of early vertebrates, as well as adding paleontological and comparative anatomy perspectives to evo-devo. We are also very interested in the use of new imaging and visualization technologies in our work, such as CT scanning and 3D printing.

NEWS

Ben venerates about Whatcheeria at Collections Club, finds converts

Ben venerates about Whatcheeria at Collections Club, finds converts

Ben Otoo delivered a sermon canonizing his beloved Whatcheeria at the Collections Club meeting on April 25. This club is comprised of volunteers at the Field Museum who work in the collections. Ben extolled the beauty of Whatcheeria, revered the sheer quantity of...

Coates Lab begins Virtual Elevenses

Coates Lab begins Virtual Elevenses

Armed with a mug of coffee/tea each, the Coates Lab began its Tuesday Virtual Elevenses during shelter-in-place. Here, Ben is deep into retelling Chapter 3 of 48 of his fieldwork trip to Brazil while Mike futilely attempts to extract information about the actual...

Coates Lab goes to the Lyric Opera!

Coates Lab goes to the Lyric Opera!

As part of the Farewell to Tetsuto Tour, members of the Coates Lab attended Madama Butterfly at the Lyric Opera last week. Although there were technically not any fish involved, we took to heart the themes of unrequited love and betrayal (looking at you, microCT...

Recent Publications

 

The postcranial anatomy of Whatcheeria deltae and its implications for the family Whatcheeriidae

Benjamin K A Otoo, John R Bolt, R Eric Lombard, Kenneth D Angielczyk, Michael I Coates. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2021; https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa182

The early elasmobranch Phoebodus: phylogenetic relationships, ecomorphology and a new time-scale for shark evolution.

Frey L, Coates M, Ginter M, Hairapetian V, Rücklin M, Jerjen I, Klug C. The early elasmobranch Phoebodus: phylogenetic relationships, ecomorphology and a new time-scale for shark evolution. Proc Biol Sci. 2019 Oct 09; 286(1912):20191336. PMID: 31575362

High-performance suction feeding in an early elasmobranch.

Coates MI, Tietjen K, Olsen AM, Finarelli JA. High-performance suction feeding in an early elasmobranch. Sci Adv. 2019 09; 5(9):eaax2742. PMID: 31535026

Hagfish from the Cretaceous Tethys Sea and a reconciliation of the morphological-molecular conflict in early vertebrate phylogeny.

Miyashita T, Coates MI, Farrar R, Larson P, Manning PL, Wogelius RA, Edwards NP, Anné J, Bergmann U, Palmer AR, Currie PJ. Hagfish from the Cretaceous Tethys Sea and a reconciliation of the morphological-molecular conflict in early vertebrate phylogeny. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 02 05; 116(6):2146-215. PMID: 30670644