SST/SC Faculté des sciences (SC)
SST/ELI Earth and Life Institute (ELI)
SST/ELI/ELIV Ecologie et Biodiversité (ELIV)
Dr. Simon Baeckens is a professor at the Earth and Life Institute (ELI) where he is head of the laboratory for Animal Evolutionary Ecology. His research explores how, and how fast, animals respond to environmental change, particularly changes driven by human activity. The group's work integrates behavioral, ecological, functional morphological, physiological, and phylogenetic perspectives, combining both field-based experiments and comparative analyses. While their studies span diverse vertebrate taxa, lizards and snakes frequently serve as model organisms for addressing fundamental questions in ecology and evolution.
Adresse postale
ELIV - CarnoyL7.07.04
Croix du sud 4-5
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Réseaux sociaux
Academic positions
1 Sept. 2025 Assistant Professor, Head of the Animal Evolutionary Ecology Lab, Earth & Life Institute
Université catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium)
2021 – 2025 Postdoc Fellow, EON Lab, Biology Department
Ghent University and University of Antwerp (Belgium)
2019 – 2020 Postdoc Fellow, Shine & Whiting Lab, School of Natural Sciences,
Macquarie University (Sydney, NSW, Australia).
2018 – 2021 Postdoc Fellow, Functional Morphology Lab, Biology Department (one-year gap to visit Macquarie University)
University of Antwerp (Antwerp, Belgium)
2017 - 2018 Postdoc Fellow, Losos Lab, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, USA)
Education
2012 - 2017 Ph.D. in Biology, University of Antwerp (Belgium), awarded on March 3, 2017 (Raoul Van Damme Lab)
2010 - 2012 MSc. in Behaviour and Evolutionary Biology, University of Antwerp (Belgium).
2007 - 2010 BSc. in Biology, University of Antwerp (Belgium).
Major fellowships
2021 Senior Postdoctoral fellowship (4y), The Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)
2018 Junior Postdoctoral fellowship (3y), The Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)
2017 Postdoctoral fellowship (1y), Belgian American Education Foundation (BAEF)
Major research grants
2025 - 2028 Collen-Francqui Start-Up Grant (€200k), Francqui Foundation
Organisation of scientific meetings
2023 Head Organiser, First International Congress on Rapid Evolution in the Anthropocene, (Antwerp) Belgium
Professional service
Editor for:
2017 - now Biology Letters, Editorial Board Member
2018 - now Belgian Journal of Zoology, Editorial Board Member
2017 - 2025 Journal of Zoology, Editorial Board Member
2017 - 2025 Acta Herpetologica, Associate Editor
2021 Behaviour, Editor of Special Issue on Reptile Cognition
Reviewer for over 60 journals with 113 verified peer reviews. Awarded Top 1% Peer Reviewer in 2018 (Clarivate)
Member of expert panel in Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution (Bio3) for the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), 2025-2027
| Année | Libellé | Établissement |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Ph.D. in Biology | Rijksuniversitaire Centrum Antwerpen (Belgique) |
| 2010 | M.Sc. in Behavior and Evolutionary Biology | Rijksuniversitaire Centrum Antwerpen (Belgique) |
| 2007 | B.Sc. in Biology | Rijksuniversitaire Centrum Antwerpen (Belgique) |
Unités d'enseignement pour 2025
| Libellé | Code |
|---|---|
| Evolution biologique | LBIO1310 |
| Functional ecology | LBIO1317 |
| Questions spéciales d'évolution | LBIO1350 |
| Advanced and applied evolutionary biology | LBOE2111 |
Baeckens, Simon ; Donihue, Colin M.. Evolutionary consequences of extreme climate events. In: Current Biology, Vol. 35, no.17, p. R850-R864 (2025). doi:10.1016/j.cub.2025.07.046.
Baeckens, Simon ; Martín, José ; Zoran, Tadić ; Van den Camp, Emma ; Sacchi, Roberto ; Van Damme, Raoul ; Mangiacotti, Marco. Non-adaptive processes explain chemical signal divergence in island lizards. In: Oikos : a journal of ecology, Vol. 2025, no.e11743, p. 1-13 (2025). doi:10.1002/oik.11743.
Gavriilidi, Ioanna ; Baeckens, Simon ; Van Linden, Lisa ; Van Damme, Raoul. On the flick of the tongue: male island and mainland lizards' responses to self and conspecific chemical stimuli. In: Journal of Zoology, Vol. 327, no.2, p. 207-219 (2025). doi:10.1111/jzo.70046.
Zhang, Jindong ; Baeckens, Simon ; Van Damme, Raoul ; Wanieck, Kristina. Overlooked sources of inspiration in biomimetic research. In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 15, no.1, p. 25590 (2025). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-11703-6.
Baeckens, Simon ; Martín, José ; Pafilis, Panayiotis ; Herrel, Anthony ; Donihue, Colin M.. Temporal dynamics of scent mark composition in field‐experimental lizard populations. In: Functional Ecology (Online), Vol. 39, no.1, p. 154-164 (2024). doi:10.1111/1365-2435.14687.
Leitão, Henrique G ; Diedericks, Genevieve ; Broeckhoven, Chris ; Baeckens, Simon ; Svardal, Hannes. Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of the Cape Cliff Lizard (<i>Hemicordylus capensis</i>). In: Genome Biology and Evolution, Vol. 15, no.2, p. 1-7 (2023). doi:10.1093/gbe/evad001.
Baeckens, Simon ; Meiri, Shai ; Shine, Richard. Foraging mode affects extinction risk of snakes and lizards, but in different ways. In: Conservation Letters, Vol. 16, no.5, p. 1-7 (2023). doi:10.1111/conl.12977.
Banfi, Federico ; Meiri, Shai ; Shine, Richard ; Van Damme, Raoul ; Baeckens, Simon. Foraging mode constrains the evolution of cephalic horns in lizards and snakes. In: Biology Letters, Vol. 19, no.11, p. 1-6 (2023). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0395.
Mangiacotti, Marco ; Baeckens, Simon ; Fumagalli, Matteo ; Martín, J ; Scali, Salvatore ; Sacchi, Romain. Protein–lipid Association in Lizard Chemical Signals. In: Integrative organismal biology, Vol. 5, no.1, p. 1-15 (2023). doi:10.1093/iob/obad016.
Shine, Richard ; Baeckens, Simon. Rapidly evolved traits enable new conservation tools: perspectives from the cane toad invasion of Australia. In: Evolution : international journal of organic evolution, Vol. 77, no.8, p. 1744-1755 (2023). doi:10.1093/evolut/qpad102.
Mangiacotti, Marco ; Baeckens, Simon ; Fumagalli, Marco ; Martín, José ; Scali, Stefano ; Sacchi, Roberto. Sexual Selection and Proteinaceous Diversity in the Femoral Gland Secretions of Lacertid Lizards. In: Diversity, Vol. 15, no.6, p. 777 (2023). doi:10.3390/d15060777.
Lyons, Sean ; Baeckens, Simon ; Van Wassenbergh, Sam. Upper beak depression instead of elevation dominates cranial kinesis in woodpeckers. In: Biology Letters, Vol. 19, no.6, p. 1-5 (2023). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0148.
Bock, Dan G. ; Baeckens, Simon ; Kolbe, Jason J. ; Losos, Jonathan B.. When adaptation is slowed down: Genomic analysis of evolutionary stasis in thermal tolerance during biological invasion in a novel climate. In: Molecular Ecology, Vol. 33, no.10, p. e17075 (2023). doi:10.1111/mec.17075.
Ashton, Benjamin J ; Baeckens, Simon. Digest: environmental variability as a constraint on cognitive evolution in lizards. In: Evolution : international journal of organic evolution, Vol. 77, no.2, p. 625-626 (2022). doi:10.1093/evolut/qpac059.
Gavriilidi, Ioanna ; De Meester, Gilles ; Van Damme, Raoul ; Baeckens, Simon. How to behave when marooned: the behavioural component of the island syndrome remains underexplored. In: Biology Letters, Vol. 18, no.4, p. 1-23 (2022). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0030.
Baeckens, Simon ; Losos, Jonathan B ; Irschick, Duncan J ; Kolbe, Jason J ; Bock, Dan G. Introduction history and hybridization determine the hydric balance of an invasive lizard facing a recent climate niche shift. In: Evolution : international journal of organic evolution, Vol. 77, no.1, p. 123-137 (2022). doi:10.1093/evolut/qpac017.
Goyens, Jana ; Baeckens, Simon ; Smith, Ewan St. John ; Pozzi, Jasmine ; Mason, Matthew J.. Parallel evolution of semicircular canal form and sensitivity in subterranean mammals. In: Journal of Comparative Physiology A : sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, Vol. 208, no.5-6, p. 627-640 (2022). doi:10.1007/s00359-022-01578-7.
Bock, Dan G. ; Baeckens, Simon ; Pita-Aquino, Jessica N. ; Chejanovski, Zachary A. ; Michaelides, Sozos N. ; Muralidhar, Pavitra ; Lapiedra, Oriol ; Park, Sungdae ; Menke, Douglas B. ; Geneva, Anthony J. ; Losos, Jonathan B. ; Kolbe, Jason J.. Changes in selection pressure can facilitate hybridization during biological invasion in a Cuban lizard. In: Proceedings of the National academy of sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 118, no.42, p. 1-10 (2021). doi:10.1073/pnas.2108638118.
Baeckens, Simon ; Temmerman, Marie ; Gorb, Stanislav N. ; Neto, Chiara ; Whiting, Martin J. ; Van Damme, Raoul. Convergent evolution of skin surface microarchitecture and increased skin hydrophobicity in semi-aquatic anole lizards. In: The Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol. 224, no.19, p. 1-10 (2021). doi:10.1242/jeb.242939.
Mangiacotti, Marco ; Baeckens, Simon ; Scali, Stefano ; Martín, José ; Van Damme, Raoul ; Sacchi, Roberto. Evolutionary and biogeographical support for species-specific proteins in lizard chemical signals. In: Biological journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 134, no.4, p. 912-928 (2021). doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blab131.
Baeckens, Simon ; Whiting, Martin J.. Investment in chemical signalling glands facilitates the evolution of sociality in lizards. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 288, no.1945, p. 20202438 (2021). doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.2438.
Martinez, Alejandro ; Nguyen, Damon ; Basson, Mandeep S. ; Medina, Josh ; Irschick, Duncan J. ; Baeckens, Simon. Quantifying surface topography of biological systems from 3D scans. In: Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 12, no.7, p. 1265-1276 (2021). doi:10.1111/2041-210x.13603.
De Meester, Gilles ; Baeckens, Simon. Reinstating reptiles: from clueless creatures to esteemed models of cognitive biology. In: Behaviour, Vol. 158, no.12-13, p. 1057-1076 (2021). doi:10.1163/1568539x-00003718.
Gavriilidi, Ioanna ; Baeckens, Simon ; De Meester, Gilles ; Van Linden, Lisa ; Van Damme, Raoul. The gullible genius: fast learners fall for fake news. In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Vol. 76, no.1, p. 1-12 (2021). doi:10.1007/s00265-021-03122-0.
Donihue, Colin M. ; Herrel, Anthony ; Martín, José ; Foufopoulos, Johannes ; Pafilis, Panayiotis ; Baeckens, Simon. Rapid and repeated divergence of animal chemical signals in an island introduction experiment. In: Journal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 89, no.6, p. 1458-1467 (2020). doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13205.
Brock, Kinsey M. ; Baeckens, Simon ; Donihue, Colin M. ; Martín, José ; Pafilis, Panayiotis ; Edwards, Danielle L.. Trait differences among discrete morphs of a color polymorphic lizard,<i>Podarcis erhardii</i>. In: PeerJ, Vol. 8, p. e10284 (2020). doi:10.7717/peerj.10284.
Baeckens, Simon ; Goeyers, Charlotte ; Van Damme, Raoul. Convergent Evolution of Claw Shape in a Transcontinental Lizard Radiation. In: Integrative & Comparative Biology, Vol. 60, no.1, p. 10-23 (2019). doi:10.1093/icb/icz151.
Van Wassenbergh, Sam ; Baeckens, Simon. Digest: Evolution of shape and leverage of bird beaks reflects feeding ecology, but not as strongly as expected*. In: Evolution, Vol. 73, no.3, p. 621-622 (2019). doi:10.1111/evo.13686.
Baeckens, Simon. Evolution of animal chemical communication: Insights from non-model species and phylogenetic comparative methods. In: Belgian Journal of Zoology, Vol. 149, p. 63-93 (2019). doi:10.26496/bjz.2019.31.
Baeckens, Simon ; Llusia, Diego ; García-Roa, Roberto ; Martín, José. Lizard calls convey honest information on body size and bite performance: a role in predator deterrence?. In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Vol. 73, no.6, p. 1-11 (2019). doi:10.1007/s00265-019-2695-7.
Baeckens, Simon ; Wainwright, Dylan K. ; Weaver, James C. ; Irschick, Duncan J. ; Losos, Jonathan B.. Ontogenetic scaling patterns of lizard skin surface structure as revealed by gel‐based stereo‐profilometry. In: journal of Anatomy, Vol. 235, no.2, p. 346-356 (2019). doi:10.1111/joa.13003.
Baeckens, Simon ; De Meester, Wout ; Tadić, Zoran ; Van Damme, Raoul. Where to do number two: Lizards prefer to defecate on the largest rock in the territory. In: Behavioural Processes, Vol. 167, p. 103937 (2019). doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103937.
Baeckens, Simon ; Driessens, Tess ; Huyghe, Katleen ; Vanhooydonck, Bieke ; Van Damme, Raoul. Intraspecific Variation in the Information Content of an Ornament: Why Relative Dewlap Size Signals Bite Force in Some, But Not All Island Populations of Anolis sagrei. In: Integrative & Comparative Biology, Vol. 58, no.1, p. 25-37 (2018). doi:10.1093/icb/icy012.
Baeckens, Simon ; Martín, José ; García-Roa, Roberto ; van Damme, Raoul. Sexual selection and the chemical signal design of lacertid lizards. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 183, no.2, p. 445-457 (2017). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx075.
Baeckens, Simon ; Driessens, Tess ; Van Damme, Raoul. The brown anole dewlap revisited: do predation pressure, sexual selection, and species recognition shape among-population signal diversity?. In: PeerJ, Vol. 6, p. e4722 (2018). doi:10.7717/peerj.4722.
Driessens, Tess ; Baeckens, Simon ; Balzarolo, Mamuela ; Vanhooydonck, Bieken ; Huyghe, Katleen ; Van Damme, Raoul. Climate-related environmental variation in a visual signalling device: the male and female dewlap in Anolis sagrei lizards. In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 30, no.10, p. 1846-1861signal diversity, throat fan (2017). doi:10.1111/jeb.13144.
Baeckens, Simon ; Martín, José ; García‐Roa, Roberto ; Pafilis, Panayiotis ; Huyghe, Katleen ; Van Damme, Raoul. Environmental conditions shape the chemical signal design of lizards. In: Functional Ecology (Online), Vol. 32, no.2, p. 566-580 (2017). doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12984.
Baeckens, Simon ; Herrel, Anthony ; Broeckhoven, Chris ; Vasilopoulou-Kampitsi, Menelia ; Huyghe, Katleen ; Goyens, Jana ; Van Damme, Raoul. Evolutionary morphology of the lizard chemosensory system. In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, no.1, p. 1-13 (2017). doi:10.1038/s41598-017-09415-7.
Baeckens, Simon ; Van Damme, Raoul ; Cooper, William. E.. How phylogeny and foraging ecology drive the level of chemosensory exploration in lizards and snakes. In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 30, no.3, p. 627-640 (2017). doi:10.1111/jeb.13032.
García-Roa, Roberto ; Jara, Manuel ; Baeckens, Simon ; López, Pilar ; Van Damme, Raoul ; Martín, José ; Pincheira-Donoso,. Macroevolutionary diversification of glands for chemical communication in squamate reptiles. In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, no.1, p. 1-10 (2017). doi:10.1038/s41598-017-09083-7.
Baeckens, Simon. Reliable proxies for glandular secretion production in lacertid lizards. In: Acta Herpetologica, Vol. 12, no.2, p. 199-204 (2017). doi:10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-20841.
Baeckens, Simon ; García-Roa, Roberto ; Martín, José ; Van Damme, Raoul. The Role of Diet in Shaping the Chemical Signal Design of Lacertid Lizards. In: Journal of Chemical Ecology, Vol. 43, no.9, p. 902-910 (2017). doi:10.1007/s10886-017-0884-2.
Baeckens, Simon ; Huyghe, Katleen ; Palme, Rupert ; Van Damme, Raoul. Chemical communication in the lacertid lizard <i><scp>P</scp>odarcis muralis</i>: the functional significance of testosterone. In: Acta Zoologica : international journal for zoology, Vol. 98, no.1, p. 94-103 (2016). doi:10.1111/azo.12160.
Baeckens, Simon ; García‐Roa, Roberto ; Martín, José ; Ortega, Jesus ; Huyghe, katleen ; Van Damme, Raoul. Fossorial and durophagous: implications of molluscivory for head size and bite capacity in a burrowing worm lizard. In: Journal of Zoology, Vol. 301, no.3, p. 193-205 (2016). doi:10.1111/jzo.12412.
Baeckens, Simon ; Driessens, Tess ; Van Damme, Raoul. Intersexual chemo-sensation in a "visually-oriented" lizard, Anolis sagrei. In: Peer j, Vol. 4, p. e1874 (2016). doi:10.7717/peerj.1874.
Mayerl, Christopher ; Baeckens, Simon ; Van Damme, Raoul. Evolution and role of the follicular epidermal gland system in non-ophidian squamates. In: Amphibia - Reptilia, Vol. 36, no.3, p. 185-206 (2015). doi:10.1163/15685381-00002995.
Baeckens, Simon ; Edwards, Shelley ; Huyghe, Katleen ; Van Damme, Raoul. Chemical signalling in lizards: an interspecific comparison of femoral pore numbers in Lacertidae : Femoral Pore Numbers in Lacertid Lizards. In: Biological journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 114, no.1, p. 44-57 (2014). doi:10.1111/bij.12414.