Christopher Marshall

Dr. Christopher Marshall is an adjunct faculty member in Ecology and Conservation Biology. Dr. Marshall is a professor in the Department of Marine Biology at the Texas A&M University campus in Galveston. Dr. Marshall oversees work in the Ecomorphology and Comparative Physiology Laboratory. His work focuses on integrating morphology, physiology, and behavioral performance of feeding in marine vertebrates to provide information regarding an organism’s foraging ecology, and their conservation. This work includes investigations of natural history and comparative neurobiology of sensory systems of marine vertebrates.

Dr. Marshall’s research focuses on the functional, ecological, & evolutionary aspects of how vertebrates detect, acquire, ingest and digest food. His program is integrative and comparative in nature. This work falls within the conceptual framework of ecological morphology & physiology and is conducted at the functional organismal level (morphology and physiology), behavioral, and ecological levels. The central concept of this field is that morphology and physiology influences an organism’s ecology through constraints of behavioral performance, which is the capacity of an animal to exploit its natural resources, and explore its environment. Although investigations of morphology, physiology, and behavior stand on their own, ultimately the integration of these studies can explain how organisms interact with their environment, the evolution of functional complexes, and the pressure selections involved in driving adaptations.

Research in the Ecomorphology and Comparative Physiology Lab focuses on comparative functional organismal biology. Other research interests include Integration of morphology, physiology and behavioral performance studies of vertebrates to understand organismal adaptations to the environment. Such studies integrate several research tools including classic animal dissections, histocytochemistry, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, kinematics & motion analysis, electromyography, and other electrophysiological techniques.