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Martin Rücklin

Martin Rücklin

I am a palaeobiologist interested in the evolution and development of life. Hypotheses from biological sciences propose that the evolution of life is driven towards increasing complexity by key innovations. As a model for this I study the origin and evolution of jaws and teeth and the dermal skeleton. Using mainly non-invasive X-ray microscopy I reconstruct the histology of tissue types and growth of structures.

Keywords

Palaeobiology, evolution and development, vertebrates, X-ray computed tomography, jaws and teeth, dermal skeleton, Placoderms, Devonian

Dr. Martin Rücklin

Group leader
Vertebrate evolution, development and ecology - VEDE

martin.rucklin@naturalis.nl
+31 (0)71 751 9247

Research
interest

The evolution of jaws and teeth.

 

Contrary to traditional hypotheses I demonstrated that the first teeth evolved in placoderms, the sister group to all living jawed vertebrates. In my current research on the evolution of jaws and teeth, supported by a Vidi grant from NWO, I test hypotheses on the evolution of tooth replacement in jawed vertebrates, especially in osteichthyans. In my team we investigate the evolution of complexity using dental complexity as a model, we investigate the evolution of modularity of vertebrate jaws and the evolution of dental gene-regulation using computational models.

Martin Ruecklin Dunkleosteus terelli
Reconstruction of the development of teeth in the jaw of Compagopiscis.

Current topics

Projects me and my team are working on currently.

Micro-CT-scanner-Naturalis

Evolution of tooth replacement in jawed vertebrates

Our understanding of the evolution of teeth and their replacement is traditionally based on the most basal living jawed vertebrates, the chondrichthyans. This approach ignores the hundreds of millions of years of evolution along the stem of chondrichthyans…
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Acanthodian

Evolution and development of dental complexity

In evolutionary and developmental biology, an increasing complexity of morphology of organs, tissue types and genomes during evolutionary time is postulated. In dental morphology and development the main focus has been on mammals, which have been studied…
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Outcrop-Morocco

Early vertebrate morphology and evolution

Since my master’s project and PhD at Tübingen University I work on early vertebrates and in particular placoderms. Early vertebrates constitute a perfect model to test hypotheses from palaeobiogeography, phylogeny and evolutionary biology. In Palaeozoic…
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Key
publications

  • Couzens A. M. C., Sears, K. E. & Rücklin, M. 2021. Developmental influence on evolutionary rates and the origin of placental mammal tooth complexity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 118 (23) e2019294118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2019294118

  • Rücklin, M., King, B., Cunningham, J.A., Johanson, Z., Marone & F., Donoghue, P.C.J. 2021. Acanthodian dental development and the origin of gnathostome dentitions. Nature Ecology & Evolution 5, 919-926. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01458-4

  • Doeland, M., Couzens, AMC., Donoghue PCJ. & Rücklin, M. 2019. Tooth replacement in early sarcopterygians. R. Soc. open sci. 6: 191173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191173

  • Donoghue, P. C. J. & Rücklin, M. 2016. The ins and outs of the evolutionary origin of teeth. Evolution & Development 18:1, 19-30.

  • Giles, S., Rücklin, M. & Donoghue, P.C.J. 2013. Histology of the placoderm dermal skeleton: implications for the nature of the ancestral gnathostome. Journal of Morphology 274: 627-644.

  • Rücklin, M., Donoghue, P.C.J., Johanson, Z., Trinajstic, K., Marone, F. & Stampanoni, M. 2012. Development of teeth and jaws in the earliest jawed vertebrates. Nature 491: 748-751.

  • Rücklin, M., Giles, S., Janvier, P. & Donoghue, P.C.J. 2011. Teeth before jaws? Comparative analysis of the structure and development of the external and internal scales in the extinct jawless vertebrate Loganellia scotica. Evolution & Development 13: 523-532.

All publications on GoogleScholar

PhD
supervision

 

    Melina Jobbins - Zurich University - Main supervior: Prof. Christian Klug; Co-supervisor: Martin Rücklin

    Wenjing Yi - Leiden University - Main supervisor: Prof. Michael Richardson; Co-supervisor: Martin Rücklin

    We welcome new PhD students or postdoctoral researchers in my team. Get in contact to discuss possibilities.

    Experiment at the synchrotron in Switzerland

    Former lab members and
    PhD students

    • Dr Benedict King - former postdoctoral researcher in Vidi project 'jaws and teeth' working on the assembly of the vertebrate dentition and jaws - now postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig - Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution 
    • Dr Aidan Couzens - former postdoctoral researcher in Vidi project 'jaws and teeth' working on the evolution of dental complexity - now postdoc at the University of California, Los Angeles - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    • Dr Sebastien Enault - former postdoctoral researcher - now Kraniata - skeletal preparation
    • Dr Linda Frey - PhD May 2019 at University of Zürich- co-supervisor M. Rücklin
    • Floortje Mossou - former research assistant

    Teaching
    activities

    • Biodiversity - Leiden University, 1st year BSc - 2020
    • Palaeobiology - Leiden University, MSc course - 2018-present, since 2020 as coordinator
    • Honours class 'Crisis in Biology' now 'Evolution of Earth and Life' - Leiden University - 2018-present
    • Evolution and development course – Leiden University, MSc – 2017-present
    • Evolutionary biology - Leiden University, 2nd year BSc - 2017-present
    • Zoology and developmental biology, Vertebrate evolution and vertebrate skeleton – Leiden University, BSc – 2013-present
    • Methods in Biodiversity - Leiden University, MSc - 2016-2017
    • Tomography and 3D visualization of (palaeo)biological tissues – Naturalis – 2015 - present
    • Vertebrate Evolution and Palaeobiology – University of Bristol – 2011-2012
    • 3D imaging techniques – University of Bristol – 2009-2011
    • Frontiers in Earth Sciences – University of Bristol – 2009
    • Access to Bristol – University of Bristol – 2009-2011

    Me and my team supervise BSc and MSc internships. Get in contact to discuss possibilities.

    In the
    media

    The Conversation - Evolution of a smile: 400 million year old spiny fish overturns shark theory of tooth origins

    Nature Today - Nieuwe inzichten in de evolutie van kaken bij de eerste kaakdieren

    Spiegel online – Evolution: Urzeitfisch war wohl erstes Wirbeltier mit Zähnen
    Deutschlandfunk – Bissig von Anfang an
    Dental Tribune – Researchers discover the origin of teeth

    Scanning at the synchrotron of the Swiss Lght Source

    Publications

    2023

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Korn D., Rücklin M. 2023. The occurrence of Gastrioceras in the Moroccan Meseta and mid-Bashkirian ammonoid palaeogeography.. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 309 (2) : 105-110. DOI https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/2023/1152
    Wang M., Rücklin M., Poelmann R.E., Mooij C.L. de, Fokkema M., Lamers G.E.M., Bakker M.A.G. de, Chin E., Bakos L.J., Marone F., Wisse B.J., Ruiter M.C. de, Cheng S., Nurhidayat L., Vijver M.G., Richardson M.K. 2023. Nanoplastics causes extensive congenital malformations during embryonic development by passively targeting neural crest cells.. Environment International 173: 107865. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2023.107865
    Martini A., Sahd L., Rücklin M., Huysseune A., Hall B.K., Boglione C., Witten P.E. 2023. Deformity or variation? Phenotypic diversity in the zebrafish vertebral column.. Journal of Anatomy 243 (6) : 960-981. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13926
    2022

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Deakin W.J., Anderson P.S.L., Boer W. den, Smith T.J., Hill J.J., Rücklin M., Donoghue P.C.J., Rayfield E.J. 2022. Increasing morphological disparity and decreasing optimality for jaw speed and strength during the radiation of jawed vertebrates.. Science Advances 8 (11) : eabl3644. DOI https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl3644
    Yi W., Mueller T., Rücklin M., Richardson M.K. 2022. Developmental neuroanatomy of the rosy bitterling Rhodeus ocellatus (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)-A microCT study.. Journal of Comparative Neurology 530 (12) : 2132-2153. DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.25324
    Jobbins M., Rücklin M., Ferrón H.G., Klug C. 2022. A new selenosteid placoderm from the Late Devonian of the eastern Anti-Atlas (Morocco) with preserved body outline and its ecomorphology.. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10 DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.969158
    2021

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Yi W., Rücklin M., Poelmann R.E., Aldridge D.C., Richardson M.K. 2021. Normal stages of embryonic development of a brood parasite, the rosy bitterling Rhodeus ocellatus (Teleostei: Cypriniformes). Journal of Morphology 282 (6) : 783-819. DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21335
    Rücklin M., King B., Cunningham J.A.., Johanson Z., Marone F., Donoghue P.C.J. 2021. Acanthodian dental development and the origin of gnathostome dentitions. Nature Ecology and Evolution 5: 919-926. DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01458-4
    Jobbins M., Rücklin M., Argyriou T., Klug C. 2021. A large Middle Devonian eubrachythoracid 'placoderm' (Arthrodira) jaw from northern Gondwana. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 140 (1) : 2. DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-020-00212-w
    King B., Marone F., Rücklin M. 2021. Tooth development in the Early Devonian sarcopterygian Powichthys and the evolution of the crown osteichthyan dentition. Palaeontology 64 (5) : 645-659. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12563
    Deakin W. J., Anderson P. S. L., den Boer W., Hill J. J., Rucklin M., Donoghue P. C. J., Rayfield E. J. 2021. Theoretical functional morphology reveals morphological evolution of the first jaws tracks a Pareto optimal front. Integrative and Comparative Biology 61: E187-E188. DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab001
    Couzens A.M.C., Sears, K.E., Rücklin M. 2021. Developmental influence on evolutionary rates and the origin of placental mammal tooth complexity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118 (23) : e2019294118. DOI https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2019294118
    2020

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    King B., Rücklin M. 2020. A Bayesian approach to dynamic homology of morphological characters and the ancestral phenotype of jawed vertebrates.. eLife 9: e62374. DOI https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62374
    Cotti S., Huysseune A., Koppe W., Rücklin M., Marone F., Wölfel E.M., Fiedler I.A.K., Busse B., Forlino A., Witten P.E. 2020. More Bone with Less Minerals? The Effects of Dietary Phosphorus on the Post-Cranial Skeleton in Zebrafish. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21 (15) : 5429. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21155429
    Rajabizadeh M., Wassenbergh S.V., Mallet C., Rücklin M., Herrel A. 2020. Tooth-shape adaptations in aglyphous colubrid snakes inferred from three-dimensional geometric morphometrics and finite element analysis. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society: zlaa063. DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa063
    Frey L., Coates M.I., Tietjen K., Rücklin M., Klug C. 2020. A symmoriiform from the Late Devonian of Morocco demonstrates a derived jaw function in ancient chondrichthyans. Communications Biology 3 (681) DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01394-2
    2019

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Doeland M., Couzens A.M.C., Donoghue P.C.J., Rücklin M. 2019. Tooth replacement in early sarcopterygians. Royal Society Open Science 6 (11) : 14 p. 1-14. DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191173
    Frey L., Coates M., Ginter M., Hairapetian V., Rücklin M., Jerjen I., Klug C. 2019. The early elasmobranch Phoebodus: phylogenetic relationships, ecomorphology and a new time-scale for shark evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286 (1912) : 10 p. 1-10. DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1336
    Frey L., Pohle A., Rücklin M., Klug C. 2019. Fossil‐Lagerstätten, palaeoecology and preservation of invertebrates and vertebrates from the Devonian in the eastern Anti‐Atlas, Morocco. Lethaia: 25 p. 1-25. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12354
    2018

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Frey L., Rücklin M., Korn D., Klug C. 2018. Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous alpha diversity, ecospace occupation, vertebrate assemblages and bio-events of southeastern Morocco.. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 496 (1) : 1-17. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.12.028
    Rücklin M., Lelièvre H., Klug C. 2018. Placodermi from the Early Devonian Kess-Kess mounds of Hamar Laghdad, Southern Morocco. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 290 (13) : 301-306.
    2017

    Chapters in book

    Rücklin M., Clément G. 2017. Une revue des placodermes et sarcoptérygiens du Dévonien du Maroc. Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France. 180: 79-101. ISBN 2-85363-099-4.

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Davies T.G., Rahman I.A., Lautenschlager S., Cunningham J.A., Asher R.J., Barrett P.M., Bates K.T., Bengtson S., Benson R.B.J., Boyer D.M., Braga J., Bright J.A., Claessens L.P.A.M., Cox P.G., Dong X.-P., Evans A.R., Falkingham P.L., Friedman M., Garwood R.J., Goswami A., Hutchinson J.R., Jeffery N.S., Johanson Z., Lebrun R., Martínez-Pérez C., Marugán-Lobón J., O’Higgins P.M., Metscher B., Orliac M., Rowe T.B., Rücklin M., Sánchez-Villagra M.R., Shubin N.H., Smith S.Y., Starck J.M., Stringer C., Summers A.P., Sutton M.D., Walsh S.A., Weisbecker V., Witmer L.M., Wroe S., Yin Z., Rayfield E.J., Donoghue P.C.J. 2017. Open data and digital morphology.. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284: 20170194. DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0194
    2016

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Rücklin M., Donoghue P.C.J. 2016. Reply to ‘placoderms and the evolutionary origin of teeth’: Burrow et al. (2016). Biology Letters 12: 20160526. DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0526
    Donoghue P.C. J., Rücklin M. 2016. The ins and outs of the evolutionary origin of teeth. Evolution & Development 18 (1) : 12 p. 19-30. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/ede.12099
    Klug C., Frey L., Korn D., Jattiot R., Rücklin M. 2016. The oldest gondwanan cephalopod mandibles (Hangenberg Black Shale, Late Devonian) and the mid-palaeozoic rise of jaws. Palaeontology 59 (5) : 611-629. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12248
    2015

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Davesne D., Monéjar-Fernández J., Hairapetian V., Rücklin M., Wendt J., Clément G. 2015. A new large tetrapodomorph sarcopterygian from the Late Devonian of Iran. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 89 (3) : 7 p. 661-667. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-015-0255-7
    2014

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Rücklin M., Donoghue P.C.J., Cunningham J.A., Marone F., Stampanoni M. 2014. Developmental paleobiology of the vertebrate skeleton. Journal of Paleontology 88: 676-683. DOI https://doi.org/10.1666/13-107
    Lautenschlager S., Rücklin M. 2014. Beyond the print - virtual paleontology in science publishing, outreach, and education. Journal of Paleontology 88 (4) : 727-734. DOI https://doi.org/10.1666/13-085
    2013

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Giles S., Rücklin M., Donoghue P.C.J. 2013. Histology of "placoderm" dermal skeletons: Implications for the nature of the ancestral gnathostome. Journal of Morphology 274 (6) : 627-644. DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20119
    2012

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Prestianni C., Meyer-Berthaud B., Blanchard R., Rücklin M., Clement G., Gerrienne P. 2012. The Middle Devonian plant assemblage from Dechra Ait Abdallah (Central Morocco) revisited. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 179: 44-55. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2012.03.011
    Rücklin M., Donoghue P.C.J., Johanson Z., Trinajstic K., Marone F., Stampanoni M. 2012. Development of teeth and jaws in the earliest jawed vertebrates. Nature 491 (7426) : 748-+. DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11555
    Cunningham J.A., Rücklin M., Blom H., Botella H., Donoghue P.C.J. 2012. Testing models of dental development in the earliest bony vertebrates, Andreolepis and Lophosteus. Biology Letters 8 (5) : 833-837. DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0357
    2011

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Rücklin M., Giles S., Janvier P., Donoghue P.C.J. 2011. Teeth before jaws? Comparative analysis of the structure and development of the external and internal scales in the extinct jawless vertebrate Loganellia scotica. Evolution & Development 13 (6) : 523-532. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-142X.2011.00508.x
    2010

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Lubeseder S., Rath J., Rücklin M., Messbacher R. 2010. Controls on Devonian hemi-pelagic limestone deposition analysed on cephalopod ridge to slope sections, Eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Facies: International Journal of Paleontology, Sedimentology and Geology 56 (2) : 295-315. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-009-0205-5
    2008

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Klug C., Kroeger B., Korn D., Rücklin M., Schemm-Gregory M., Baets K. de, Mapes Royal H. 2008. Ecological change during the early Emsian (Devonian) in the Tafilalt (Morocco), the origin of the Ammonoidea, and the first African Pyrgocystid Edrioasteroids, Machaerids and Phyllocarids. Palaeontographica Abteilung A: Palaeozoologie - Stratigraphie 283 (46) : 83-U58.
    2007

    Chapters in book

    Rücklin M. 2007. Panzerfische aus dem Devon von Bad Wildungen, Landkreis Waldeck-Frankenberg, und Südmarokko. Bad Wildunger Panzerfische in Afrika – ein Indiz für die einstige Lage der Kontinente.. Hessen Archäologie 2006, Jahrbuch für Archäologie und Paläontologie in Hessen
    2004

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Meyer-Berthaudt B., Rücklin M., Soria A., Belka Z., Lardeux H. 2004. Frasnian plants from the Dra Valley, Southern Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Geological Magazine 141 (6) : 675-686.
    Korn D., Belka Z., Frohlich S., Rücklin M., Wendt J. 2004. The youngest African clymeniids (Ammonoidea, Late Devonian) - failed survivors of the Hangenberg Event. Lethaia 37 (3) : 307-315. DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00241160410002054
    2003

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Klug C., Rücklin M., Meyer-Berthaud B., Soria A., Korn D., Wendt J. 2003. Late devonian pseudoplanktonic crinoids from Morocco. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte 3: 153-163.
    2000

    Journals SCI, peer-reviewed

    Maisch M.W., Rücklin M. 2000. Cranial osteology of the sauropterygian Plesiosaurus brachypterygius from the Lower Toarcian of Germany. Palaeontology 43: 29-40.