Meeting Abstract
The livebearing fishes of the family Poeciliidae represent an ecologically diverse group including over 270 species that are distributed throughout North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean. Some poeciliids have served as powerful models for investigating the roles of natural and sexual selection in phenotypic diversification and speciation. However, it remains largely unknown how natural and sexual selection interacted to shape diversification within the family. We analyzed morphological variation (body shape and fin morphology) across 133 species of poeciliid fishes, including representatives from all recognized genera. Using a time-calibrated phylogeny, distribution wide assessment of environmental variation, and metrics of sexual selection, we addressed the following questions: (1) What are the major axes of morphological diversification within the group and is there any evidence for convergence? (2) How do rates of morphological evolution vary across time and among different taxonomic groups? (3) How does variation in the environment, sexual selection, and reproductive biology shape phenotypic evolution in the family?
