Jukka Jernvall

Jukka Jernvall (born 1963) is a Finnish evolutionary biologist in the field of evo-devo research.

[1] His research has centered on the interplay of ecology, evolution and developmental biology, especially of the mammalian dentition.

His thesis investigating the evolution and development of mammalian molar cusp patterns was supervised by Irma Thesleff and Mikael Fortelius.

He also discovered and coined the term ‘secondary enamel knot’, previously overlooked signaling centers regulating tooth cusp development.

[4] Current research ranges from mutant mice in the laboratory to evolutionary diversity in the fossil record and to seal genomics.