Matthew Wills

Matthew Wills is Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Bath. He is affiliated with the Milner Centre for Evolution and the Centre for Mathematical Biology, where he leads research into macroevolutionary processes using fossil and molecular data. His work integrates phylogenetics, morphological disparity, and stratigraphic congruence to understand large-scale evolutionary patterns.

His research interests focus on the role of fossils in building phylogenies, the evolution of morphological complexity, and the testing of macroevolutionary trends such as early high disparity and increasing complexity. He investigates how developmental shifts underpin major evolutionary transitions and how fossilization biases affect our understanding of the Tree of Life. His lab conducts projects on arthropod supertrees, molluscan ontogeny, and the phylogeny of Eumalacostraca using molecules, morphology, and fossils.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on quantifying morphological complexity, vertebral evolution in mammals, species richness in birds, and the impact of boundaries on trait evolution. These works frequently appear in high-impact journals like Nature Communications and Nature Ecology & Evolution, indicating a trend toward integrative, data-rich evolutionary analyses combining paleontological, morphological, and phylogenomic approaches.

• Principal Investigator, Biodiversity and The Sixth Mass Extinction (Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851)
• Principal Investigator, Susceptibility to Mass Extinctions: Ammonites as a Case Study (NERC)
• Principal Investigator, PLUTO Project (BBSRC)
• Principal Investigator, Arthropod Supertree of Life (BBSRC)

He has supervised 17 research students and contributes to public discourse through platforms like The Conversation. His work supports UN Sustainable Development Goals related to life on land and climate action through deep-time biodiversity research.