Paulyn Cartwright
Associate Professor
Evolutionary Development Biology
Ph.D. Yale University, 1997
7016 Haworth
Phone: (785) 864-4432
Links:
Cartwright Lab: http://www.people.ku.edu/~pcart/index.html
Classes Taught
Systematics and Macroevolution (Biol.701)
Evolutionary Biology (Biol.412)
Developmental Biology Laboratory (Biol 427)
Area of Interest and Research
My research focuses on understanding evolutionary patterns and developmental processes in medusozoans. Medusozoans are a clade of cnidarians that include hydrozoans (Hydra, hydromedusae and hydroids), scyphozoans (true jellyfish), cubozoans (box jellies) and staurozoans (stalked jellies). Medusozoans are relatively simple in terms of their component parts, yet they display a remarkable diversity of forms and life cycles. The tremendous diversity of medusozoans has been appreciated for centuries, yet many questions remain unanswered with regard to the evolutionary patterns and processes underlying this diversity. With new advances in phylogenetics and developmental biology, it is now possible to re-address these outstanding questions using modern approaches. Under an NSF funded Cnidarian Tree of Life project and a newly funded NSF CAREER grant, my lab is investigating the evolutionary relationships of medusozoans using a molecular phylogenetics approach. In addition, we are isolating and studying expression patterns in key developmental regulatory genes in order to better understand the developmental mechanisms responsible for the diversity of medusozoan forms.
Representative Publications
Evans, N.M., Holder, M.T., Barbeitos, M.S., Okamura, B., and Cartwright, P. (2010) The phylogenetic position of Myxozoa: Exploring conflicting signals in phylogenomic and ribosomal datasets. Mol. Biol. Evol. 27(12):2733-2746.doi:10.1093/molbev/msq159.
Cartwright, P. and Nawrocki, A.M. (2010) Character evolution in Hydrozoa (phylum Cnidaria). Integ. Comp. Biol. 50(3): 456-472. doi:10.1093/icb/icq074.
Nawrocki, A.M., Schuchert, P. and Cartwright, P. (2010) Phylogenetics and evolution of Capitata (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa), and the status of the family Corynidae. Zoological Scripta. 39(3):290–304.
Bentlage, B., Cartwright, P., Yanagihara, A. A., Lewis,, C., Richards, G. and Collins, A.G. (2010) Evolution of box jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Cubozoa), a group of highly toxic invertebrates. Proc. R. Soc. B. 277, 493–501..
Bentlage, B., Peterson, A.T., and Cartwright, P. (2009) Inferring distributions of chirodropid box-jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) in geographic and ecological space using ecological niche modeling. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 384:121-133.
Cartwright, P., Evans, N.M., Dunn, C.W., Marques, A.C., Miglietta, M.P. and Collins, A.G. (2008). Phylogenetics of Hydroidolina (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. 88(8): 1163-1672.
Collins, A.G., Bentlage, B., Lindsay, D., Haddock, S.H.D., Lindner, A., Norenburg, J.L., Jarms, G., Jankowski, T. and Cartwright, P. (2008) Phylogenetics of Trachylina (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. 88:1673-1685
Evans, N.M., Lindner, A., Raikova, E.V., Collins, A.G. and Cartwright, P. (2008) Phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic parasite, Polypodium hydriforme, within the phylum Cnidaria. BMC Evol. Biol. 8:139. Correction: BMC Evol. Biol. 9:165
Cartwright, P. and Collins, A.G. (2007) Class Hydrozoa. In: The phylum Cnidaria: A review of phylogenetic patterns and diversity three hundred years after Linneaeus by Daly, M., Brugler, M.R., Cartwright, P. Collins, A.G., Dawson, M.N, France, S.C, McFadden, C.S., Opresko, D.M., Rodriguez, E., Romano, S. and Stake, J. Zootaxa 1668:153-168.
Cartwright P., Halgedahl S.L., Hendricks J.R., Jarrard R.D., Marques A.C., Collins, A.G. and Lieberman, B.L. (2007) Exceptionally Preserved Jellyfishes from the Middle Cambrian. PLoS ONE 2(10): e1121: p.1-9.
Cartwright, P. and Collins A.G. (2007) Fossils and phylogenies: integrating multiple lines of evidence to investigate the origin of early major metazoan lineages. Integ. Comp. Biol. 47(5):744-751.
Cartwright, P., Schierwater, B., and Buss, L.W. (2006) Expression of a Gsx parahox gene in colony ontogeny in Hydractinia (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa). Journ. Exp. Zool. (Mol Dev Evol). 306B:460-469.
Collins, A.G., Cartwright, P., McFadden, C.S. and Schierwater, B. (2005) Phylogenetic Context and Basal Metazoan Model Systems. Integ. Comp. Biol. 45:585-594
Graduate Students
Bastian Bentlage, PhD student (co-supervised with Allen Collins)
Annalise Nawrocki, PhD student
Steven Sanders, PhD student
Elizabeth Chang, MA student