Publications

2019

Yohe, L.R., Davies, K.T., Simmons, N.B., Sears., K.E., Dumont, E.R., Rossiter, S.J., and Dávalos, L.M. 2019. Evaluating the performance of targeted sequence capture, RNA‐Seq, and degenerate‐primer PCR cloning for sequencing the largest mammalian multigene family. Molecular Ecology Resources https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13093.
Hedrick, B.P., Mutumi, G.L., Munteanu, V.D., Sadier, A., Davies, K.T.J., Rossiter, S.J., Sears, K.E., Dávalos, L.M., and Dumont, E.R. 2019. Morphological diversification under high integration in a hyper-diverse mammal clade. Journal of Mammalian Evolution https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-019-09472-x.
Kelly, E.M., Marcot, J.D., Selwood, L., and Sears, K.E. 2019. The development of integration in marsupial and placental limbs. Integrative Organismal Biology 1(1) https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/oby013.

2018

Sadier, A., Davies, K.T., Yohe, L.R., Yun, K., Donat, P., Hedrick, B.P., Dumont, E.R., Dávalos, L.M., Rossiter, S.J., and Sears, K.E. 2018. Multifactorial processes underlie parallel opsin loss in neotropical bats. Elife Dec 18;7. doi: 10.7554/elife.37412.
Sears, K.E., Maier, J.A., Sadier, A., Sorensen, D., and Urban, D.J. 2018. Timing the developmental origins of mammalian limb diversity. Genesis 56(1) DOI: 10.1002/dvg.23079.
Hedrick, B.P., Yohe, L, Vander Linden, A., Dávalos, L.M., Sears, K.E., Sadier, A., Rossiter, S.J., Davies, K.T.J., and Dumont, E. 2018. Shrinkage in museum specimens imaged with diffusible iodine-based contrast enhanced computer tomography (diceCT). Microscopy and Microanalysis.
Cooper, L.N., Sears, K.E., Armfield, B.A., Kala, B., Hübler, M., Thewissen, J.G.M. 2018. Review and experimental evaluation of the embryonic development and evolutionary history of flipper development and hyperphalangy in dolphins (Cetacea: Mammalia). Genesis 56(1) DOI: 10.1002/dvg.23076.

2017

Teeling, E., Vernes, S., Dávalos, L.M., Ray, D.A., Gilbert, M.T.P., Myers, E., and Bat1K Consortium (includes Sears, K.E.). 2017. Bat biology, genomes, and the Bat1K project: To generate chromosome-level genomes for all living bat species. Annual Review of Animal Biosciences 15: 23-46 doi.org/10.1146/annurev-animal-022516-022811.
Anthwal, N., Urban, D.J., Luo, Z-X., Sears, K.E., and Tucker, A. (2017). Breakdown of Meckel’s cartilage provides clues to the evolution of mammals. Nature Ecology and Evolution doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0093.
Maier, J.A., Rivas-Astroza, M., Deng, J., Dowling, A., Oboikovitz, P., Cao, X., Behringer, R., Cretekos, C., Rasweiler, R., Zhong, S., and Sears., K.E. (2017). Transcriptomic insights into the genetic basis of mammalian limb diversity. BMC Evolutionary Biology https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-017-0902-6.
Yohe, L.R., Abubakar, R., Giordano, C., Dumont, E., Sears, K.E., Rossiter, S.J., and Dávalos, L.M. (2017). Trpc2 pseudogenization dynamics indicate functional signaling in ancestral bats despite pervasive loss. Evolution 71(4):923-935. 
Petit, F., Sears, K.E., and Ahituv, N. (2017). Limb patterning: A paradigm of gene regulation. Nature Reviews Genetics 18(4):245-258. 
Urban, D.J., Anthwal, N., Maier, J.A., Luo, Z-X., Sadier, A., Tucker, A., and Sears, K.E. (2017). A new developmental mechanism for the separation of the mammalian middle ear ossicles from the reptilian jaw joint. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284: 20162416.
Sorensen, D., Sackett, A., Urban, D.J., Maier, J.A., Vargesson, N., and Sears, K.E. (2017). A new mammalian model system for thalidomide teratogenesis: Monodelphis domestica. Reproductive Toxicology 70: 126-132.

2016

Dowling, A., Doroba, C., Maier, J.A., Cohen, L.B., VandeBerg, J., and Sears, K.E. (2016). Cellular and molecular drivers of differential organ growth: Insights from Monodelphis domestica. Development Genes and Evolution 226: 235-243.

2015

Sears, K.E., Maier, J.A., Rivas-Astroza, M., Poe, R., Zhong, S., Kosog, K., Marcot, J.D., Behringer, R.R., Cretekos, C.J., Rasweiler, J.J., and Rapti, Z. (2015). The relationship between gene network structure and expression variation among individuals and species. PLOS Genetics. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005398. 
Sears, K.E., Capellini, T., and Diogo, R. (2015). On the serial homology of the pectoral and pelvic girdles of tetrapods. Evolution 69(10): 2543-2555.
Urban, D.J., Sorensen, D.W., Maier, J.A., Fenton, M.B., Simmons, N.B., Cooper, L.N., and Sears, K.E. (2015). Conjoined twins in a wild bat: A case report. Acta Chiropterologica 17: 189-192.
Abouheif, A. and Sears, K.E. (2015). It’s time to get together: Announcing the new society for evolutionary developmental biology in the Americas. Evolution and Development 17: 1.
Moczek, A., Sears, K.E., Stollewerk, A., Wittkopp, P., Diggle, P., Dworkin, I., Ledon-Rettig, C., Matus, D., Siegfried, R., Abouheif, E., Brown, F., Chiu, C., Cohen, C., De Tomaso, A., Gilbert, S., Hall, B., Love, A., Lyons, D., Sanger, T., Smith, J., Specht, C., Vallejo-Marin, M., and Extavour, C. (2015). The significance and scope of evolutionary developmental biology: a vision for the 21st century. Evolution and Development 17: 198-219.
Molineaux, A., Maier, J., Schecker, T, and Sears, K.E. (2015). Exogenous retinoic acid induces digit reduction in opossums (Monodelphis domestica) by disrupting cell death and proliferation, and AER and ZPA function. Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology 103: 225-234.

2014

Sorensen, D., Butkus, C., Cooper, L.N., Cretekos, C.C., Rasweiler, J.J., and Sears, K.E. (2014). Palate variation and evolution in New World leaf-nosed and Old World fruit bats. Evolutionary Biology 41: 505-605.
Sears, K.E. (2014). Quantifying the impact of development on phenotypic variation and evolution. JEZ Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 322: 643-653.
Cooper, K.*, Sears, K.E.*, Uygur, A.*, Maier, J., Stephan-Backowski, K., Brosnahan, M., Antczak, D., Skidmore, J., and Tabin, C. (2014). Patterning and post-patterning modes of evolutionary digit loss in mammals. Nature 511: 41-45. * = co-first authors.
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Beiriger, A. and Sears, K.E. (2014). Cellular basis of differential limb growth in postnatal grey short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica). JEZ Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 322(4): 221-229.
Sears, K.E. (2014). Differences in growth generate the diverse palate shapes of New World leaf-nosed bats (Order Chiroptera, Family Phyllostomidae). Evolutionary Biology 41: 12-21.

2013

Ross, D., Marcot, J.D., Betteridge, K.J., Nascone-Yoder, N., Bailey, C.S., and Sears, K.E. (2013). Patterns of morphological disparity across mammalian forelimb development. Evolution 67(12): 3645-3652.
Sears, K.E., Bianchi, C., Powers, L., and Beck, A. (2013). Integration of the mammalian shoulder girdle within populations and over evolutionary time. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 26(7): 1536-1548.
Hübler, M., Molineaux, A.C., Keyte, A., Schecker, T., and Sears, K.E. (2013). Development of the marsupial shoulder girdle complex: A case study in Monodelphis domestica. Evolution and Development15(1): 18-27.

2012

Sears, K.E., Patel, A., Hübler, M., Cao, X., VandeBerg, J., and Zhong, S. (2012). Disparate Igf1 expression and growth in the fore- and hind limbs of a marsupial mammal (Monodelphis domestica). JEZ Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 318(4): 279-293. 
Sears, K.E., Doroba, C., Cao, X., Xie, D., and Zhong, S. (2012). Molecular determinants of marsupial integration and constraint. pp. 257-278 in Asher RJ, Müller J (Eds). From Clone to Bone: The Synergy of Morphological and Molecular Tools in Palaeobiology. Cambridge University Press. 
Sears, K.E. (2012). Limited forms most beautiful. Evolution and Development 14(3): 311-312.
Cooper, L.N., Cretekos, C.C., and Sears, K.E. (2012). The evo-devo of mammalian flight. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Developmental Biology (WIREs Developmental Biology) doi: 10.1002/wdev.50.

2011

Sears, K.E., Bormet, A.K., Rockwell, A., Powers, L.E., Cooper, L.N., and Wheeler, M.B. (2011). Developmental basis of mammalian digit reduction: A case study in pigs (Sus scrofa). Evolution and Development 13(6): 533-541.
Kelly, E.M. and Sears, K.E. (2011). Limb specialization in living marsupial and eutherian mammals: An investigation of constraints on mammalian limb evolution. Journal of Mammalogy 92(5): 1038-1049.
Sears, K.E. (2011). Novel insights into the regulation of limb development from natural mammalian mutants.” BioEssays 33(5): 327-331.
Kelly, E.M. and Sears, K.E. (2011). Reduced integration in marsupial limbs and the implications for mammalian evolution. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 102(1): 22-36.

2010

de Guzman Strong, C., Conlan, S., Cheng, J., Deming, C.B., Sears, K.E., Segre, J.A. (2010). The Epidermal Differentiation Complex (EDC): A highly conserved syntenic block harboring regulatory elements including an enhancer in psoriasis-associated LCE3C_LCE3B-del. Human molecular genetics 19(8): 1453-1460. 
Doroba, C. and Sears, K.E. (2010). The highly divergent development of the forelimb in the marsupial Monodelphis domestica: an amniote with no apical ectodermal ridge (AER). Anatomical Record 293(8): 1325-1332.
Hübler, M. and Sears, K.E. (2010). The developmental reduction of the marsupial coracoid: A case study in Monodelphis domestica. Journal of Morphology 271(7):769-776.

2009 and older

Sears, K.E. (2009). Differences in the timing of prechrondrogenic limb development in mammals: The marsupial-placental dichotomy resolved. Evolution 63(8): 2193-2200.
Sears, K.E., Finarelli, J.J., Flynn, J.J. and Wyss A. (2008). Morphometric estimators of body mass in New World monkeys (Platyrrhini, Anthropoidea, Primates), with consideration of the Miocene-aged Chilecebus carrascoensis. American Museum Novitates 3617: 1-29.
Sears, K.E. (2008). Molecular determinants of bat wing development. Cells, Tissues, Organs 187: 6-12.
Sears, K.E., Goswami, A., Flynn, J.J., and Niswander, L.A. (2007). The correlated evolution of Runx2 tandem repeats, transcriptional activity and facial length in Carnivora. Evolution and Development 9(6): 555-565.
Sears, K.E., Behringer, R.R., Rasweiler, J.J. and Niswander, L.A (2007). The evolutionary and developmental basis of parallel reduction in mammalian zeugopod elements. American Naturalist 169(1): 105-117.
Sears, K.E., Behringer, R.R., Rasweiler, J.J. and Niswander, L.A (2006). The development of bat flight: Morphologic and molecular evolution of bat forelimb digit. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(17): 6581-6586.
Sears, K.E. (2005). The developmental basis of scapular evolution in giant kangaroos (Macropodidae: Sthenurinae). Journal of Morphology 265(2): 226-236.
Sears, K.E. (2004). Constraints on the morphological evolution of marsupial shoulder girdles. Evolution 58(10): 2353-2370.*
Flynn, J.J., Novacek, M.J., Dodson, H.E., Frassinetti, D., McKenna, M.C., Norell, M.A., Sears, K.E., Swisher, C.C., Wyss, A.R. (2002). A new fossil mammal assemblage from the southern Chilean Andes: Implications for geology, geochronology and tectonics. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 15: 285-302.