#  Research 

 



##  Our Research 

 About us 

The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard is a center for research and education focused on the comparative relationships of animal life, with applications beyond traditional museum science.

MCZ Curators are Harvard professors whose research applies to industry, medicine, robotics, navigation, evolution, and biodiversity.



 

 

 

       ![a close up of someone working under a microscope](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_28_10__1920x685/public/2025-10/INV_22rs.jpg?itok=1qfLk6F8) 

 

 



 

 



 

    ![cells in early cleavage](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_3_4__480x640/public/2025-10/Srivastava%20research_MAX_h5_timeseries.lif%20-%20early%20cleavage.tif%20%28RGB%29.jpeg?itok=hODCeJ-R) 

 

 

 

   

Biodiversity—the richness and variety of life on Earth—serves as inspiration for solutions to address pressing societal challenges in fields as diverse as biomedicine, engineering, conservation and industry.

 

 [View a brochure highlighting research at the MCZ](https://simplebooklet.com/mczbrochure) 

 



 

 

 

##  Biomedical Impact 

 



  [### From killing to curing -Venomous mollusks and the path to medicine

 ](https://holfordlab.com/research-interest)Researchers in the Mandë Holford lab are using a comparative interdisciplinary approach combing evolution and chemical ecology to examine how venoms evolve, develop, and function over time, and how we can use this knowledge as a roadmap for discovering and characterizing compounds that will inform advances in foundational and translation research pertaining to cellular physiology and drug discovery.



 

   ![illustration with a marine snail, octopus and science symbols ](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-10/Picture1_1.jpg?h=a31c9c77&itok=TYm5Xatp) 

 

 

 

  [### Learning how animals regenerate to inform human medical advances

 ](http://www.srivastavalab.org/research.html)MCZ researchers in the Mansi Srivastava lab work with the three-banded panther worm that can regrow whole organs—including entirely new brains—to uncover the genetic pathways for this impressive regeneration capability. The U.S. National Institutes of Health has funded this vital research with implications for human health.



 

   ![regeneration in worms](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-10/erkpanel_nolabels.jpeg?itok=glYhWCfE) 

 

 

 

 ### Exploring the energy costs of regeneration

[George Lauder](https://sites.harvard.edu/glauder/) and [Jessica Whited](https://hscrb.harvard.edu/labs/whited-lab/) at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute are leading research on the metabolic changes that occur during limb regeneration in axolotls to quantify the energy expended to regrow a limb.



 

   ![Axolotl swimming among aquatic plants, with its distinctive feathery gills prominently displayed. Photo by Henner Damke](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-05/AdobeStock_447693640.jpeg?itok=fQH3ZbtD) 

 

 

 

  

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###  Evolutionary Studies 

 



#### How birds develop disease resistance 

 

Research in the Scott Edwards lab utilized decades of DNA samples from bird specimens in our collection to observe how House Finches evolved disease resistance over time.

The use of long-read sequencing and pangenomic approaches in a wild bird population, led by Postdoctoral Fellow Bohao Fang, presents a compelling approach to understanding the complexities of molecular ecology and adaptive evolution.



 [ Learn about research in Scott's lab arrow\_circle\_right ](https://edwards.oeb.harvard.edu/) 

 



      ![two birds on a branch](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-10/Housefinch.JPG?itok=qx7IiV_s) 

 

 

  

 



#### Investigating velvet worm dispersal across the Caribbean 

 

Velvet worms are remarkable animals, with their strange mode of prey capture and a primitive appearance. But they are even more fascinating from a biogeographical point of view, having survived multiple mass extinctions and extreme events, and can be found on most Caribbean islands.



 [ Learn more about Gonzalo's research arrow\_circle\_right ](https://giribetgroup.oeb.harvard.edu/research) 

 



      ![a pink velvet worm in a half-upright position](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-10/DSC_8446.jpg?h=fe3e7a05&itok=IEarMbLU) 

 

 

  

 



#### Mosquito ecology 

 

Researchers in Brian Farrell's lab are working to understand mosquito diversity and demographic history to learn how their populations fluctuate over periods of climate change and how they impact the distribution of their hosts and malaria parasites.



 [ Read more about research in Brian's lab arrow\_circle\_right ](https://farrell.oeb.harvard.edu/) 

 



      ![Close up a mosquito hides under green leaf, nature blurred background, macro photos, selective focus, insect Thailand. By Pawich Sattalerd](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-10/AdobeStock_556196085.jpg?itok=3gx4V8oU) 

 

 

  

 



#### Animal evolution 500 million years in the making 

 

The Museum of Comparative Zoology houses the largest collection worldwide of exceptionally preserved soft-bodied Marjum fossils from Utah. This unique deep marine deposit contains key evidence of early animal life over 500 million years old, and represents the most diverse and abundant fossil biota of its kind in the entire United States.



 [ Learn more about Javier's research arrow\_circle\_right ](https://ortega-hernandezlab.oeb.harvard.edu/research) 

 



      ![a reconstruction of marine life 500 million years ago](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-10/2021_Marjum%20Painting%20no%20numbers%20CMYK%20%28printed%20use%29.jpg?h=0315aec1&itok=-RmU3_7r) 

 

 

  

 



#### Discoveries hiding in collections 

 

A fossil in our collections was identified as a caterpillar in 1865 but is now recognized as the first-known non-marine lobopodian and the earliest one ever discovered. Lobopodians are extinct, soft-bodied creatures that bridge the evolutionary gap between a primitive worm-like ancestor and modern arthropods like insects and crustaceans.



 [ Learn more about this discovery arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08483-0) 

 



      ![Artistic environmental reconstruction of the Montceau-les-Mines Lagerstätte](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-10/Lobopod%20Reconstruction.png?itok=dOOiXPY8) 

 

 

  

 



 

 

 

##  Biomechanics & Design 

 



  [### Computational simulations bridging evolutionary biology and robotics

 ](https://stephaniepiercelab.oeb.harvard.edu/current-projects)In Stephanie Pierce's lab, researchers fuse Darwinian evolution, Newtonian mechanics, and optimization theory to build computational simulations of animal behavior in both living and extinct species. Originating in biomedical engineering and aerospace, this framework has been repurposed and expanded to predict whole-organism performance—such as running speed and walking efficiency.

These simulations mark a watershed for evolutionary biology, enabling quantitative reconstructions of extinct organisms and rigorous tests of the drivers behind major evolutionary transitions. The same pipelines are catalyzing agile, bio-inspired robots that translate nature’s solutions into real technology. The work has received sustained support from the National Science Foundation.



 

   ![computer image of a dimetrodon showing footsteps and musculature ](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-10/S%20Pierce%20Dimetrodon_Image_Final%20Large.jpeg?h=b5e6d31d&itok=3TVF9Qbu) 

 

 

 

  [### Studying fish to improve robots and aircraft

 ](https://sites.harvard.edu/glauder/current-research/)For decades, George Lauder has directed research on meticulously engineered robots that replicate how fish swim to better understand the mechanisms behind speed and agility. His lab also studies the structure of shark skin to understand its hydrodynamic properties.

Together, this research can lead to more efficient underwater robots, more aerodynamic aircraft, and robots that mimic real-life movements. It has received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation.

Photo illustration courtesy of James Weaver



 

   ![an illustration with a shark and a close-up of shark denticles](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-10/Shark.denticle.image_.jpg?h=afa5b6e6&itok=DrZgOhcF) 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

##  Climate Change 

 



### Transforming cooling technologies through butterfly wing research 

 

Members of Naomi Pierce's lab have been studying the reflectances of scales on butterfly wings to understand how they regulate temperature. They have discovered nanostructures that regulate heat and light, providing blueprints for energy-saving materials, sustainable building design, and next-generation optics.



 [ Learn more about Naomi's research arrow\_circle\_right ](https://piercelab.oeb.harvard.edu/research) 

 



      ![illustration with a butterfly in the center and graphics surrounding it](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-10/Fig_v1.jpeg?itok=BUE_7JK_) 

 

 

  

 



### Studying mass extinctions to better understand how climate change will impact biodiversity 

 

MCZ researchers are discovering that drastic changes in climate differentially impacted animals groups, offering clues to the future of biodiversity in a warming world.



 [ Learn more about Stephanie's lab arrow\_circle\_right ](https://stephaniepiercelab.oeb.harvard.edu/) 

 



      ![an illustration with prehistoric animals and plants](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-10/j7oBspUvTkqjSdCNaX5K_fig1_ecosystemreconstruction%28credit_henrysharpe%29.jpeg?itok=YyoJl5V7) 

 

 

 ©Henry Sharpe