We use killifishes to uncover how organisms survive, develop, and evolve under extreme ecological challenges.
Our lab combines developmental biology, functional genetics, and genomics to understand how organisms adapt to extreme environments.
Killifishes are emerging research models for evolution, development, behavior, cancer, developmental perturbations, and aging. Annual killifishes have dormant (diapausing) embryos that withstand seasonal habitat desiccation, which results in death of the entire parental population. This annual life history includes the independent, convergent evolution of rapid aging and embryonic dormancy among distantly related lineages of killifishes.
Ancient fishes such as bowfin, spotted gar, and lampreys provide powerful comparisons for understanding vertebrate development, genetics, and evolution. These lineages retain unusual combinations of ancestral and derived traits, making them valuable systems for studying how distinctive phenotypes evolve across deep evolutionary time.
We are a collaborative group studying development, genomics, ecology, and evolution.
Principal Investigator
Drew studies how development evolves in extreme environments using killifish and ancient fish model systems.
Ph.D. Student
Andy is a Ph.D. student working on the genetics of killifish dormancy.
M.S. Student
Sam is an M.S. student working on lamprey genomics.
Undergraduate Researcher
Petra is an undergraduate researcher working on killifish genetics.
PhD Candidate – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Brazil
Visiting PhD Candidate – WMU, USA
Bioinformatics and comparative genomics of killifishes
Evolution of hatching enzymes in “living fossil” fishes
Evolution of killifish hatching enzymes
A selection of recent work. For a full list see Google Scholar.
Nematolebias whitei — Our primary annual killifish model for studying dormancy and hatching.
Ophthalmolebias constanciae — an annual killifish used to study sexual dimorphism.
Rivulus cylindraceus — a Caribbean killifish used for comparative studies of development, physiology, and ecological adaptation.
Aplocheilus lineatus — a South Asian killifish used in comparative evolutionary and developmental research.
Oryzias latipes - Classic vertebrate model for developmental genetics.
A comparative framework connecting our laboratory killifish models across the aplocheiloid phylogeny.
Our Killifish & Medaka Facility is a custom-built system designed and constructed in-house to support small-bodied fish models for developmental, genomic, ecological, and evolutionary research.
The facility supports husbandry, breeding, embryo collection, and experimental work with annual killifishes, non-annual killifishes, and medaka.
Designed and built by Andrew Thompson for flexible maintenance of emerging laboratory fish models.
Lab resources, outreach materials, and datasets from the Xtremo-Devo Lab.
Access our analysis pipelines, custom scripts, and data releases via GitHub and public repositories. We share reproducible workflows for developmental genomics, single-cell analysis, comparative genomics, and killifish biology.
Killi-Kits are outreach and classroom tools built around the unusual life cycle of annual killifishes. Dormant killifish embryos can be transported and stored for months, then hatched by adding water, giving students and families a hands-on way to explore development, genetics, evolution, dormancy, and scientific observation. Each kit is designed to support simple, low-infrastructure learning with small aquaria, embryos, food, observation tools, and instructional resources.
We welcome inquiries from motivated undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs interested in developmental biology, genomics, and evolution in extreme environments.
Undergraduates can participate in ongoing projects in fish husbandry, imaging, and data analysis. Prior experience is helpful but not required.
To inquire, send a CV, transcript, and a brief paragraph describing your interests.
Prospective graduate students should apply through the relevant graduate program at our institution and mention their interest in joining the Xtremo-Devo Lab.
Email Drew with your CV and a short description of your research interests and experience.
Prospective postdocs with interests in evo-devo, diapause, or functional genomics are encouraged to reach out about potential opportunities and fellowships.
Include a CV, a brief statement of research goals, and contact information for references.