Bruno Simoes

Research Interests

Biological Adaptation Genomics Phylogeny and Comparative Analysis Vision Science Zoology

Dr Bruno Simoes

School of Biological Sciences

College of Science

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Vertebrate vision has long fascinated evolutionary biologists and is a celebrated example of the power of integrative biology. As an evolutionary biologist I have quickly become fascinated by the evolution of vision. My research focus is the application of molecular methods to the evolution of vision in a very ecological diverse and evolutionary plastic group of vertebrates - squamate reptiles. In 2016 I was awarded a European Union Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship at the University of Bristol (UK) and the University of Adelaide. Under this fellowship, I complement transcriptomics and comparative genomics with physiology and anatomical approaches to assess visual phenotypic diversity and the molecular mechanisms that underpin this sensory in snakes and lizards.

Over the past years I have studied the evolution of vision in several vertebrate lineages, but mostly focusing on reptiles. Under my European Union Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship  I integrate genomic, physiological and anatomical data to understand the genomic underpinning of phenotypic variation in the vertebrate visual system, the relative roles of adaptation and constraints in the origin of novel visual phenotypes, and to understand whether complex visual systems can be re-elaborated following evolutionary degeneration. 

Date Position Institution name
2020 - ongoing Lecturer in Animal Biology University of Plymouth
2017 - ongoing Adjunct Lecturer University of Adelaide, Adelaide
2016 - 2019 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow University of Adelaide, Adelaide
2016 - 2019 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow University of Bristol
2016 - 2016 Principal Molecular Biologist Applied Genomics, Ltd
2012 - 2015 Postdoctoral Researcher The Natural History Museum, London

Language Competency
English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
French Can read and understand spoken
Portuguese Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
Spanish; Castilian Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Date Institution name Country Title
2008 - 2012 National University of Ireland - University College Dublin Ireland PhD
2005 - 2007 University of Porto Portugal MSc, Biodiversity and Genetic Resources
2000 - 2004 University of the Azores Portugal Licentiate degree, Biology

Year Citation
2025 Marques, J. P., Santos Sousa, I., Patrício, D., Simões, B. F., Chukwunalu, O., Zeitz, C., . . . Alves, C. H. (2025). Eyes shut homolog (EYS): Connecting molecule to disease. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, 108, 101391.
DOI
2024 Rossetto, I. H., Ludington, A. J., Simões, B. F., Van Cao, N., & Sanders, K. L. (2024). Dynamic Expansions and Retinal Expression of Spectrally Distinct Short-Wavelength Opsin Genes in Sea Snakes. Genome Biology and Evolution, 16(8), evae150-1-evae150-15.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC3
2023 Rossetto, I. H., Sanders, K. L., Simões, B. F., Van Cao, N., & Ludington, A. J. (2023). Functional Duplication of the Short-Wavelength-Sensitive Opsin in Sea Snakes: Evidence for Reexpanded Color Sensitivity Following Ancestral Regression. Genome Biology and Evolution, 15(7), 1-5.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC6
2021 Crowe-Riddell, J. M., Dix, S., Pieterman, L., Nankivell, J. H., Ford, M., Ludington, A. J., . . . Allen, L. (2021). From matte banded to glossy black: structures underlying colour change in the caudal lures of southern death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus, Reptilia: Elapidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 132(3), 666-675.
DOI Scopus7 WoS4
2021 Gower, D. J., Fleming, J. F., Pisani, D., Vonk, F. J., Kerkkamp, H. M. I., Peichl, L., . . . Simoes, B. F. (2021). Eye-transcriptome and genome-wide sequencing for Scolecophidia: implications for inferring the visual system of the ancestral snake. Genome Biology and Evolution, 13(12), evab253-1-evab253-12.
DOI Scopus11 WoS9 Europe PMC12
2020 Simoes, B. F., Gower, D. J., Rasmussen, A. R., Sarker, M. A. R., Fry, G. C., Casewell, N. R., . . . Sanders, K. L. (2020). Spectral diversification and trans-species allelic polymorphism during the land-to-sea transition in snakes. Current Biology, 30(13), 2608-2615.e4.
DOI Scopus16 WoS13 Europe PMC17
2019 Simões, B. F., Foley, N. M., Hughes, G. M., Zhao, H., Zhang, S., Rossiter, S. J., & Teeling, E. C. (2019). As Blind as a Bat? Opsin Phylogenetics Illuminates the Evolution of Color Vision in Bats. Molecular biology and evolution, 36(1), 54-68.
DOI Scopus34 WoS32 Europe PMC26
2019 Crowe-Riddell, J. M., Simões, B. F., Partridge, J. C., Hunt, D. M., Delean, S., Schwerdt, J. G., . . . Sanders, K. L. (2019). Phototactic tails: evolution and molecular basis of a novel sensory trait in sea snakes. Molecular Ecology, 28(8), 1-16.
DOI Scopus16 WoS15 Europe PMC12
2019 Travouillon, K. J., Simões, B. F., Miguez, R. P., Brace, S., Brewer, P., Stemmer, D., . . . Louys, J. (2019). Hidden in plain sight: reassessment of the pig-footed bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus (Peramelemorphia, Chaeropodidae), with a description of a new species from central Australia, and use of the fossil record to trace its past distribution. Zootaxa, 4566(1), 1-69.
DOI Scopus29 WoS26 Europe PMC5
2019 Gower, D. J., Sampaio, F. L., Peichl, L., Wagner, H. J., Loew, E. R., McLamb, W., . . . Simões, B. F. (2019). Evolution of the eyes of vipers with and without infrared-sensing pit organs. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 126(4), 796-823.
DOI Scopus24 WoS21
2017 Simoes, B. F., & Gower, D. J. (2017). Visual Pigment Evolution in Reptiles. eLS, 1-9.
DOI
2016 Simões, B., Sampaio, F., Loew, E., Sanders, K., Fisher, R., Hart, N., . . . Gower, D. (2016). Multiple rod-cone and cone-rod photoreceptor transmutations in snakes: evidence from visual opsin gene expression. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 283(1823), 8 pages.
DOI Scopus32 WoS33 Europe PMC27
2016 Simões, B. F., Sampaio, F. L., Douglas, R. H., Kodandaramaiah, U., Casewell, N. R., Harrison, R. A., . . . Gower, D. J. (2016). Visual Pigments, Ocular Filters and the Evolution of Snake Vision. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 33(10), 2483-2495.
DOI Scopus75 WoS71 Europe PMC39
2015 Simões, B. F., Sampaio, F. L., Jared, C., Antoniazzi, M. M., Loew, E. R., Bowmaker, J. K., . . . Gower, D. J. (2015). Visual system evolution and the nature of the ancestral snake. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 28(7), 1309-1320.
DOI Scopus67 WoS63 Europe PMC51
2007 Simões, B. F., Rebelo, H., Lopes, R. J., Alves, P. C., & Harris, D. J. (2007). Patterns of genetic diversity within and between Myotis d. daubentonii and M. d. nathalinae derived from cytochrome b mtDNA sequence data. Acta Chiropterologica, 9(2), 379-389.
DOI Scopus4 WoS3

Year Citation
2020 Crowe-Riddell, J. M., Pieterman, L., Simoes, B. F., Nankivell, J. H., Ford, M., Ludington, A., . . . Sanders, K. L. (2020). Ontogenetic change in hue and structure of caudal lure reflects dietary shift in Australian death adders (Elapidae). In INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY Vol. 60 (pp. E304). Austin, TX: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC.

Year Citation
- Crowe-Riddell, J., Simoes, B., Schwerdt, J., Ludington, A., Breen, J., & Sanders, K. (n.d.). Phototactic tails manuscript ESM-Files.
DOI

Year Citation
2024 Ford, M. J. R., Ludington, A., Bradford, T., Sanders, K., Hutchinson, M., & Simões, B. (2024). Retention of the full visual opsin repertoire in Australia’s cryptozoic lizards.
DOI Europe PMC1

Australian Research Council – Discovery Project: Evolutionary dynamics of reptile vision: How are complex traits lost and re-innovated during ecological transitions? DP180101688 (Co-Lead with Kate Sanders; other PI/CIs: James Green, David Hunt, Mark Hutchinson, Belinda Chang, Emma Teeling)

European Union – H2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship: Elaboration and degeneration of complex traits: The visual systems of lizards and snakes (Evol-Eyes) — Applicant

Environment Institute – University of Adelaide, Small Research Grants Scheme: Molecular evolution of vision in sea snakes — Co-Applicant with Dr. Kate Sanders

Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), International Doctoral Fellowship: Molecular Mechanisms and Evolution of Mammalian Sensory Perception: Visual Pathways in Bats (SFRH/BD/36369/2007) — Applicant 

 

Affiliate Lecturer – School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide

Guest lecturers in

  • Foundations in Marine Biology III
  • Research Methods in Evolutionary Biology

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2020 - 2024 Co-Supervisor The Evolution of the Sea Snake Visual System Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Isaac Henry Rossetto
2018 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Visual Evolution of Scincoidea Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Matthew John Robert Ford

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