SANTINI, F.*; YBAZETA, G.; University of Toronto; University of Toronto: Patterns and processes in the evolution of fishes: an introduction to the symposium

Fishes comprises over 50% of all described species of vertebrates. They are present in, and constitute a large part of, the biodiversity of every aquatic ecosystem, and often play a dominant ecological role. In spite of their importance, fishes are the least known and least studied vertebrates. The patterns of their evolution, and the processes that have promoted them are much less understood than those of the various clades of tetrapods. Furthermore, an understanding of fish evolution is hampered by the lack of communication that has historically existed between pattern-oriented biologists, such as systematists and paleontologists, and process-oriented scientists such as ecologists, biogeographers and developmental biologists. This symposium aims at bringing together pattern- and process-scientists, in the search for a better understanding of the evolution of fishes, and illustrating the power of the comparative and integrative approach to evolutionary questions.