UMass Boston

Liam Revell, Professor, Biology

Liam Revell

Department:
Biology
Title:
Professor
Location:
ISC Floor 04 04150
Phone:

617.287.7259

Send Email

Biography

I'm an evolutionary biologist who is undoubtedly best known for my work in computational biology, particularly in the development of phylogeny methods and their application in software. My widely-used R package, phytools, is one of the most important core R package for phylogenetic biology. In addition to phytools, members of the Revell lab & I have developed, maintain, or contribute to a number of other projects in scientific computing for the biological sciences.

Area of Expertise

Computational biology, phylogenetics, evolution

Degrees

Ph.D., Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

M.A., Evolution, Ecology, & Population Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri

B.A., Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

Professional Publications & Contributions

Books

  1. Revell, L. J. and L. J. Harmon. 2022. Phylogenetic Comparative Methods in R. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ. 440 pp. link

Published & In press Articles or Book Chapters

  1. Revell, L. J., L. J. Harmon, and R. E. Glor. 2005. Underparameterized model of sequence evolution leads to bias in the estimation of diversification rates from molecular phylogenies. Systematic Biology 54: 973-983.  
  2. Revell, L. J., L. J. Harmon, R. B. Langerhans, and J. J. Kolbe. 2007. A phylogenetic approach to determining the importance of constraint on phenotypic evolution in the neotropical lizard, Anolis cristatellus. Evolutionary Ecology Research 9: 261-282.
  3. Revell, L. J. 2007. The G matrix under fluctuating correlational mutation and selection. Evolution 61: 1857-1872.  
  4. Revell, L. J. 2007. Testing the genetic constraint hypothesis in a phylogenetic context: A simulation study. Evolution 61: 2720-2727.
  5. Revell, L. J., M. A. Johnson, J. A. Schulte II, J. J. Kolbe, and J. B. Losos. 2007. A phylogenetic test for adaptive convergence in rock-dwelling lizards. Evolution 61: 2898-2912.
  6. Johnson, M. A., M. Leal, L. Rodríguez Schettino, A. Chamizo Lara, L. J. Revell, and J. B. Losos. 2008. A phylogenetic perspective on foraging mode evolution in West Indian Anolis lizards. Animal Behaviour 75: 555-563.  
  7. Revell, L. J. and A. S. Harrison. 2008. PCCA: A program for phylogenetic canonical correlation analysis. Bioinformatics 24: 1018-1020.  
  8. Revell, L. J. and L. J. Harmon. 2008. Testing quantitative genetic hypotheses about the evolutionary rate matrix for continuous characters. Evolutionary Ecology Research 10: 311-321.  
  9. Revell, L. J. 2008. On the analysis of evolutionary change along single branches in a phylogeny. American Naturalist 172: 140-147. 
  10. Revell, L. J., L. J. Harmon, and D. C. Collar. 2008. Phylogenetic signal, evolutionary process, and rate. Systematic Biology 57: 591-601.  
  11. Revell, L. J., and D. C. Collar. 2009. Phylogenetic analysis of the evolutionary correlation using likelihood. Evolution 63: 1090-1100.  
  12. Revell, L. J. 2009. Size-correction and principal components for interspecific comparative studies. Evolution 63: 3258-3268.
  13. Revell, L. J., D. L. Mahler, J. R. Sweeney, M. Sobotka, V. E. Fancher, and J. B. Losos. 2010. Nonlinear selection and the evolution of variances and covariances for continuous characters in an anole. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 407-421.
  14. Lovely, K. R., D. L. Mahler, and L. J. Revell. 2010. The rate and pattern of tail autotomy in five species of Puerto Rican anoles. Evolutionary Ecology Research 12: 67-88.  
  15. Johnson, M. A., L. J. Revell, and J. B. Losos. 2010. Behavioral convergence and adaptive radiation: Effects of habitat use on territorial behavior in Anolis lizards. Evolution 64: 1151-1159.  
  16. Lindenfors, P., L. J. Revell, and C. L. Nunn. 2010. Sexual dimorphism in primate aerobic capacity: A phylogenetic test. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 1183-1194.
  17. Mahler, D. L., L. J. Revell, R. E. Glor, and J. B. Losos. 2010. Ecological opportunity and the rate of morphological evolution in the diversification of Greater Antillean anoles. Evolution 64: 2731-2745.
  18. Revell, L. J. 2010. Phylogenetic signal and linear regression on species data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 1: 319-329.
  19. Kolbe, J. J., L. J. Revell, B. Szekely, E. D. Brodie III, and J. B. Losos. 2011. Convergent evolution of phenotypic integration and its alignment with morphological diversification in Caribbean Anolis ecomorphs. Evolution 65: 3608-3624.  
  20. Revell, L. J., D. L. Mahler, P. R. Peres-Neto, and B. D. Redelings. 2012. A new method for identifying exceptional phenotypic diversification. Evolution 66: 135-146.
  21. Sanger, T. J., L. J. Revell, J. J. Gibson-Brown, and J. B. Losos. 2012. Repeated modification of early limb morphogenesis programs underlies the evolution of relative long bone length variation among Anolis lizards. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B 279: 739-748.  
  22. Slater, G. J., L. J. Harmon, D. Wegmann, P. Joyce, L. J. Revell, and M. E. Alfaro. 2012. Fitting models of continuous trait evolution to incompletely sampled comparative data using Approximate Bayesian Computation. Evolution 66: 752-762.  
  23. Revell, L. J. 2012. phytools: An R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods in Ecology and Evolution 3: 217-223.  
  24. Revell, L. J. and R. G. Reynolds. 2012. A new Bayesian method for fitting evolutionary models to comparative data with intraspecific variation. Evolution 66: 2697-2707.  
  25. Revell, L. J. 2013. A comment on the use of stochastic character maps to estimate evolutionary rate variation in a continuously valued trait. Systematic Biology 62: 339-345.  
  26. Reynolds, R. G., A. R. Puente-Rolón, R. N. Reed, and L. J. Revell. 2013. Genetic analysis of a novel invasion of Puerto Rico by an exotic constricting snake. Biological Invasions 15: 953-959.  
  27. Muñoz, M. M., N. G. Crawford, T. J. McGreevy, N. J. Messana, R. D. Tarvin, L. J. Revell, R. M. Zandvliet, J. M. Hopwood, E. Mock, A. L. Schneider, and C. J. Schneider. 2013. Divergence in coloration and the evolution of reproductive isolation in the Anolis marmoratus species complex. Molecular Ecology 22: 2668-2682.  
  28. Puente-Rolón, A. R., R. G. Reynolds, and L. J. Revell. 2013. Preliminary genetic analysis supports cave populations as targets for conservation in the endemic endangered Puerto Rican boa (Boidae: Epicrates inornatus). PLoS ONE 8: e63899.  
  29. Reynolds, R. G., M. L. Niemiller, S. B. Hedges, A. Dornburg, A. R. Puente-Rolón, and L. J. Revell. 2013. Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of West Indian boid snakes (Chilabothrus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68: 461-470.  
  30. Mahler, D. L., T. Ingram, L. J. Revell, and J. B. Losos. 2013. Exceptional convergence on the macroevolutionary landscape in island lizard radiations. Science 341: 292-295.
  31. Revell, L. J. 2013. Two new graphical methods for mapping trait evolution on phylogenies. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 4: 754-759.  
  32. Reynolds, R. G., M. L. Niemiller, and L. J. Revell. 2014. Toward a tree-of-life for the boas and pythons: Multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71: 201-213.  
  33. Revell, L. J. 2014. Ancestral character estimation under the threshold model from quantitative genetics. Evolution 68: 743-759.  
  34. Reynolds, R. G., A. R. Puente-Rolón, M. Barandiaran, and L. J. Revell. 2014. Hispaniolan boa (Chilabothrus striatus) on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Herpetology Notes 7: 121-122.  
  35. Revell, L. J. 2014. Graphical methods for visualizing comparative data on phylogenies. Chapter 4 in Modern phylogenetic comparative methods and their application in evolutionary biology: Concepts and practice (L. Z. Garamszegi ed.).  
  36. Revell, L. J. and S. A. Chamberlain. 2014. Rphylip: An R interface for PHYLIP. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5: 976-981.  
  37. Stuart, Y. E., T. S. Campbell, R. G. Reynolds, P. A. Hohenlohe, L. J. Revell, and J. B. Losos. 2014. Rapid evolution of a native species following invasion by a congener. Science 346: 463-466.
  38. Collar, D. C., P. C. Wainwright, M. E. Alfaro, L. J. Revell, and R. S. Mehta. 2014. Biting disrupts evolutionary integration of the skull in eels. Nature Communications 5: 5505.
  39. Reynolds, R. G., A. R. Puente-Rolón, R. Platenberg, K. Tyler, P. J. Tolson, and L. J. Revell. 2015. Large divergence and low diversity suggest genetically informed conservation strategies for the endangered Virgin Islands Boa (Chilabothrus monensis). Global Ecology and Conservation 3: 487-502.  
  40. Revell, L. J., D. L. Mahler, R. G. Reynolds, and G. J. Slater. 2015. Placing cryptic, recently extinct, or hypothesized taxa into an ultrametric phylogeny using continuous character data: A case study with the lizard Anolis roosevelti. Evolution 69: 1027-1035.  
  41. Harrison, A. S., L. J. Revell, and J. B. Losos. 2015. Correlated evolution of microhabitat, morphology, and behavior in West Indian Anolis lizards: A test of the habitat matrix model. Behavior 152: 1187-1207.  
  42. Winchell, K. M., R. G. Reynolds, S. Prado-Irwin, A. R. Puente-Rolón, and L. J. Revell. 2016. Phenotypic shifts in urban areas in the tropical lizard, Anolis cristatellus. Evolution 70: 1009-1022.
  43. Reynolds, R. G., D. C. Collar, S. A. Pasachnik, M. L. Niemiller, A. R. Puente-Rolón, and L. J. Revell. 2016. Ecological specialization and morphological diversification in Greater Antillean boas. Evolution 70: 1882-1895.  
  44. Tyler, R. K., K. M. Winchell, and L. J. Revell. 2016. Tails of the city: Caudal autotomy in the tropical lizard, Anolis cristatellus, in urban and natural areas of Puerto Rico. Journal of Herpetology 50: 435-441.  
  45. Arcila, D., G. Ortí, R. Vari, J. W. Armbruster, M. L. J. Stiassny, K. D. Ko, M. H. Sabaj, J. Lundberg, L. J. Revell, and R. Betancur-R. 2017. Genome-wide interrogation advances resolution of recalcitrant groups in the tree of life. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:0020.
  46. Reynolds, R. G., T. R. Strickland, J. J. Kolbe, B. G. Falk, G. Perry, L. J. Revell, and J. B. Losos. 2017. Archipelagic genetics in a widespread Caribbean anole. Journal of Biogeography 44: 2631-2647. &nb

Additional Information

Since the outset of my career I've also consistently maintained an empirical research dimension, either directly or via collaboration with colleagues. Much of this research has focused on reptiles from the neotropics, and especially lizards in the diverse genus Anolis.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2011, I was a postdoctoral research fellow with the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and earned my Ph.D. in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.