List of publications

Please reach out to me with questions/comments about any of these papers or with requests for a copy. I'd love to hear from you!

Development shapes the evolutionary diversification of rodent stripe patterns
Merlijn Staps, Pearson W. Miller, Corina E. Tarnita, and Ricardo Mallarino
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 120 (45), e2312077120 (2023)
In this work, we investigate the diversity of rodent stripe patterns from an evolutionary and developmental perspective. Using a mathematical model for pattern development inspired by recent molecular data, we show that development may have both facilitated and constrained pattern evolution.
Rodent patterns

When being flexible matters: ecological underpinnings for the evolution of collective flexibility and task allocation
Merlijn Staps & Corina E. Tarnita
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 119 (18), e2116066119 (2022)
In this paper, we develop a general theoretical framework for the evolution of task allocation in variable environments, applicable to multicellular organisms and social insect colonies. We derive simple and general conditions for the evolution of collective flexibility, and propose potential theoretical explanations for some puzzling empirical observations.
Task allocation

Life cycles as a central organizing theme for studying multicellularity
Merlijn Staps, Jordi van Gestel, and Corina E. Tarnita
The Evolution of Multicellularity, edited by Matthew Herron, Peter Conlin, and Will Ratcliff (2022)
Contributed book chapter outlining life cycles as a conceptual tool to study the evolutionary origins of multicellularity.

How geometry shapes division of labor
Merlijn Staps & Corina E. Tarnita
eLife 9:e63328 (2020)
"Insight" article accompanying article by Yanni et al., Topological constraints in early multicellularity favor reproductive division of labor.

Emergence of diverse life cycles and life histories at the origin of multicellularity
Merlijn Staps, Jordi van Gestel, and Corina E. Tarnita
Nature Ecology & Evolution 3, 1197-1205 (2019)
In this paper, we build a theoretical model for the first emergence of multicellular life cycles, starting from a unicellular ancestor. We find that diverse types of multicellular life cycles could have easily emerged early on, shaped by ancestral constraints and ecological conditions.
Life cycles

The diameter of KPKVB random graphs
Tobias Müller & Merlijn Staps
Advances in Applied Probability 51 (2), 358-377 (2019)
In this paper, we study hyperbolic random graphs, which are a recently-proposed random geometric graph model for complex networks. We show mathematically that one classic property of real-world complex networks — small distances between any two nodes — is indeed recapitulated by this random graph model.
Hyperbolic random graph

The relative sizes of sumsets and difference sets
Merlijn Staps
Integers 15, A42 (2015)
This paper presents a new result in additive combinatorics that came out of my bachelor's thesis.