Robert C. Thomson

I am a scientist working on Systematic Biology and Evolution in Honolulu. My research focuses on understanding phylogenetic history and biodiversity using computational and genomic tools. Much of this work focuses on amphibians and reptiles, as well as applied conservation biology questions.

Professor, School of Life Sciences
Editor-In-Chief, Systematic Biology
Chair, Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program
Research Associate in Herpetology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

news

Jan 15, 2026	Systematic Biology Volume 75 Issue 1 is now out. Please see our special collection of 75th anniversary articles that will be appearing throughout the year.
Jan 01, 2026	My three year term as Editor in Chief at Systematic Biology has started. This follows a first year of handling the journal’s new submissions as Editor Elect.

selected publications

A global phylogeny of turtles reveals a burst of climate-associated diversification on continental margins

Robert C Thomson, Phillip Q Spinks, and H Bradley Shaffer

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021

HTML PDF
On the Need for New Measures of Phylogenomic Support

Robert C. Thomson, and Jeremy M. Brown

Systematic Biology, 2022

HTML PDF
The evolutionary network of whiptail lizards reveals predictable outcomes of hybridization

Anthony J Barley, Adrián Oca, Norma L Manrı́quez-Morán, and Robert C Thomson

Science, 2022

HTML PDF
A Historical Resurvey of Flatland Lizards in the Mojave Desert

Amber N Wright, Anthony J Barley, Gregory B Pauly, Levi N Gray, and Robert C Thomson

Journal of Herpetology, 2024

HTML PDF