Mgr. Milan Vrtílek Ph.D.

Position full-time researcher
Direction evolutionary ecology of killifish
+420 543 422 538

Finished Projects

Parental senescence effects and their mechanisms in a short-lived vertebrate (2022–2024)

Publications and Applied outputs

2026

Flanagan BA, Fuess LE, Vrtílek M, Roth-Monzón AJ, Bolnick DI (2026). Macroevolutionary changes in gene expression response to an immune stimulus across the diversity of fishes. Molecular Biology and Evolution, msaf323.

2025

Vrtílek M, Kromerová A, Dianat M, Fojtová M, Čížková D, Fajkus J (2025). Fins as a reliable surrogate tissue for age-related changes of telomeres and DNA methylation in gonads of a short-lived fish. Biogerontology, 195.
Žák J, Vrtílek M (2025). First attempt at using a synthetic diet in short-lived killifish, a vertebrate model of ageing. Journal of Fish Biology.

2023

Polačik M, García D, Arezo MJ, Papa N, Schlueb H, Blanco D, Podrabsky JE, Vrtílek M (2023). Embryonic development of natural annual killifish populations of the genus Austrolebias: Evolutionary parallelism and the role of environment. Freshwater Biology.
Polačik M, Vrtílek M (2023). Cryptic stasis during the development of Nothobranchius furzeri suggests new stages of dormancy outside of the typical three diapauses of annual killifishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes.

2022

Reichard M, Giannetti K, Ferreira T, Maouche A, Vrtílek M, Polačik M, Blažek R, Ferreira MG (2022). Lifespan and telomere length variation across populations of wild-derived African killifish. Molecular Ecology.
Vrtílek M, Žák J, Reichard M (2022). Evidence for reproductive senescence across ray-finned fishes: a review. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 982915.

2021

Polačik M, Vrtílek M, Reichard M, Žák J, Blažek R, Podrabsky J (2021). Embryo ecology: developmental synchrony and asynchrony in the embryonic development of wild annual fish populations. Ecology and Evolution.
Vrtílek M, Chuard PJC, Iglesias-Carrasco M, Zhang Z, Jennions MD, Head ML (2021). The role of maternal effects on offspring performance in familiar and novel environments. Heredity.
Vrtílek M, Bolnick D (2021). Macroevolutionary foundations of a recently evolved innate immune defense. Evolution.
Žák J, Vrtílek M, Polačik M, Blažek R, Reichard M (2021). Short-lived fishes: Annual and multivoltine strategies. Fish and Fisheries.

2020

Vrtílek M, Van Dooren TJM, Beaudard M (2020). Egg size does not universally predict embryonic resources and hatchling size across annual killifish species. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A-Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 110769.

2019

Vrtílek M, Žák J, Polačik M, Blažek R, Reichard M (2019). Rapid growth and large body size in annual fish populations are compromised by density‐dependent regulation. Journal of Fish Biology.
Žák J, Vrtílek M, Reichard M (2019). Diel schedules of locomotor, reproductive and feeding activity in wild populations of African annual killifish. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

2018

Polačik M, Reichard M, Vrtílek M (2018). Local variation in embryo development rate in annual fish. Journal of Fish Biology.
Reichard M, Lanés LEK, Polačik M, Blažek R, Vrtílek M, Godoy RS, Maltchik L (2018). Avian predation mediates size-specific survival in a Neotropical annual fish: a field experiment. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Vrtílek M, Žák J, Polačik M, Blažek R, Reichard M (2018). Longitudinal demographic study of wild populations of African annual killifish. Scientific Reports, 4774.
Vrtílek M, Žák J, Pšenička M, Reichard M (2018). Extremely rapid maturation of a wild African annual fish. Current Biology.
Vrtílek M, Žák J, Blažek R, Polačik M, Cellerino A, Reichard M (2018). Limited scope for reproductive senescence in wild populations of a short-lived fish. Science of Nature, 68.

2017

Blažek R, Polačik M, Kačer P, Cellerino A, Řežucha R, Methling C, Tomášek O, Syslová K, Terzibasi Tozzini E, Albrecht T, Vrtílek M, Reichard M (2017). Repeated intraspecific divergence in life span and aging of African annual fishes along an aridity gradient. Evolution.
Reichard M, Janáč M, Polačik M, Blažek R, Vrtílek M (2017). Community assembly in Nothobranchius annual fishes: nested patterns, environmental niche and biogeographic history. Ecology and Evolution.
Reichard M, Blažek R, Polačik M, Vrtílek M (2017). Hatching date variability in wild populations of four coexisting species of African annual fishes. Developmental Dynamics.
Vrtílek M, Polačik M, Reichard M (2017). The role of energetic reserves during embryonic development of an annual killifish. Developmental Dynamics.

2016

Lanés LEK, Godoy RS, Maltchik L, Polačik M, Blažek R, Vrtílek M, Reichard M (2016). Seasonal dynamics in community structure, abundance, body size and sex ratio in two species of Neotropical annual fishes. Journal of Fish Biology.
Vrtílek M, Reichard M (2016). Female fecundity traits in wild populations of African annual fish: the role of the aridity gradient. Ecology and Evolution.
Vrtílek M, Reichard M (2016). Patterns of morphological variation among populations of the widespread annual killifish Nothobranchius orthonotus are independent of genetic divergence and biogeography. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research.

2015

Vrtílek M, Reichard M (2015). Highly plastic resource allocation to growth and reproduction in females of an African annual fish. Ecology of Freshwater Fish.

2014

Polačik M, Blažek R, Řežucha R, Vrtílek M, Terzibasi Tozzini E, Reichard M (2014). Alternative intrapopulation life-history strategies and their trade-offs in an African annual fish. Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
Reichard M, Polačik M, Blažek R, Vrtílek M (2014). Female bias in the adult sex ratio of African annual fishes: interspecific differences, seasonal trends and environmental predictors. Evolutionary Ecology.

2012

Douda K, Vrtílek M, Slavík O, Reichard M (2012). The role of host specificity in explaining the invasion success of the freshwater mussel Anodonta woodiana in Europe. Biological Invasions.
Reichard M, Vrtílek M, Douda K, Smith C (2012). An invasive species reverses the roles in a host–parasite relationship between bitterling fish and unionid mussels. Biology Letters.
Vrtílek M, Reichard M (2012). An indirect effect of biological invasions: the effect of zebra mussel fouling on parasitisation of unionid mussels by bitterling fish. Hydrobiologia.