Constraints in trait diversity

Why do some seemingly viable life forms not exist? I study “gaps” in multidimensional trait spaces to understand how ecological and evolutionary processes shape and constrain phenotypic diversity.

• Bird morphology: Using topological data analysis, we identified a viable but missing body form within a large group of songbirds, likely resulting from niche preemption by early-arriving lineages (Chia et al. 2026).
• Bird feather colors: I’m investigating the occupied and unoccupied regions of bird color space to understand the mechanisms shaping the limites of feather color diversity (ongoing).