Why do some species remain unchanged for millions of years while others rapidly diversify?
In short: Evolutionary biologist Anjali Goswami is decoding the hidden rules of life. By building massive 3D databases of skull shapes, she is uncovering the constraints that lock species into specific niches and the surprising factors—from social structures to sleep patterns—that dictate how quickly an animal can evolve.
Anjali Goswami, a research leader at the Natural History Museum in London and a Fellow of the Royal Society, is pioneering a field called evolutionary phenomics. This approach uses 3D imaging and computational biology to analyze the shapes of thousands of species, both living and extinct. By moving beyond traditional fossil analysis, Goswami and her team are identifying the developmental and ecological constraints that shape biodiversity across deep time. Her work reveals why certain body plans reappear in unrelated animals across the globe, while others remain remarkably static.
The research integrates diverse variables to explain evolutionary speed. Goswami investigates how factors like social behavior, sleep patterns, and environmental shifts interact to either accelerate or stifle change. For instance, her studies examine why birds, despite being highly diverse, are actually the slowest-evolving dinosaurs. This work is increasingly powered by AI and automated imaging, which compress years of manual labor into hours, allowing scientists to study groups previously inaccessible at this scale, such as insects and single-celled organisms.
Beyond pure biology, these findings have urgent implications for the present. By understanding the mechanisms that allowed mammals to thrive after the extinction of the dinosaurs—and how they responded to past climate shifts—Goswami provides context for the current extinction crisis. Her research, which spans from fieldwork in South India and Madagascar to the analysis of modern mammalian diversity, aims to predict how species might adapt to a rapidly changing world. This synthesis of palaeontology and machine learning is fundamentally redrawing the family tree of life.
Opens the Intellect+ feed with this card first. Swipe up for the next one.
Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The hidden rule behind all evolution | with biologist Anjali Goswami
- Also: Professor Anjali Goswami FRS | Royal Society Fellow
To cite this card, link to https://intellectplus.co.uk/app/ideas-the-hidden-rule-behind-all-evolution-with-biologist-anjali-g.
How we source, check and correct cards: Editorial standards.
General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.
Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?
Related
More in Artificial intelligence · More in Ideas & Philosophy · Latest · A–Z · All topics
