WESTNEAT, M.W.; Field Museum, Chicago: Functional Morphology of Feeding in Fishes: Phylogenetic Trends in Mechanical Design of Cranial Levers and Linkages Fishes have met the challenge of capturing or ingesting food in a sensational diversity of ways. One of the hallmarks of this diversity is the complexity of the kinetic skull in fishes which may […]

STELLWAG, Edmund/J; East Carolina University: Fish Genome Evolution, Organismal Complexity and Gene Value Optima A growing body of evidence supports the hypothesis that genome expansion among chordates was fueled by a series of complete genome duplications. A corollary hypothesis proposes that genome level duplications provided the genetic basis for the continuous increase in organismal complexity […]

BERMINGHAM, E.; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Republic of Panama: Evolutionary assembly of the Mesoamerican freshwater fish fauna Over the past 2-7 million years there has been extensive intercontinental exchange of flora and fauna between North and South America across the isthmian bridge of Panama, a phenomenon known as the Great American Interchange because of its […]

MABEE, Paula; University of South Dakota: Evolution of Median Fin Modules in the Axial Skeleton of Fishes Broadly conserved phylogenetic patterns in the directions of development within the median fins of fishes were identified from a survey of the developmental morphology of actinopterygian fishes. Four modules involved in their positioning and patterning were hypothesized. The […]

PARENTI, L.R. *; GRIER, H.J.; National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Stock Enhancement Research Facility, Florida Marine Research Institute, Port Manatee: Evolution and Phylogeny of Gonad Morphology in Bony Fishes Gonad morphology at the gross anatomical or histological levels has long been studied to identify annual reproductive cycles and length of breeding […]

JOHNSON, G.D.; Smithsonian Institution: Diversity of the Acanthomorpha The spiny-rayed fishes, Acanthomorpha, are the crown group of the Teleostei. With over 300 families and 16,000 species, they comprise more than 60% of extant teleosts and about one-third of living vertebrates. They exhibit staggering diversity in size (1cm-17m), body form, skeletal and soft anatomy, habitat, behavior, […]

SALE, PF; University of Windsor, Ontario: Connectivity and Structure of Reef Fish Communities While descriptive data can suggest that the diverse communities of fish on coral reefs are closely co-evolved, equilibrial assemblages of species, these are highly dynamic, non-equilibrial assemblages with structure driven more by patterns of recruitment of individual species, than by patterns of […]

MAISEY, J.G.; American Museum of Natural History: CT scanning and the evolution of the elasmobranch braincase The archetypal status of the elasmobranch braincase is challenged by findings from CT scan analyses of both Recent and fossil shark neurocrania. Inner ear morphology in modern elasmobranchs is highly derived, and many of the same specializations are recognized […]

ANGIELCZYK, K.D.; California Academy of Sciences: What is the role of stratigraphic data in phylogeny reconstruction? The inclusion of stratigraphic data in phylogeny reconstruction is a contentious issue in paleontology, but most of this debate has focused on whether stratigraphic data should be included in phylogenetic analyses. The question of why we might want to […]

ALROY, J.; University of California: Reconstructing sequences of speciation and extinction events in the fossil record Paleontology has long offered three main products to the larger scientific community: the reconstruction of ancient environments; the morphology and relationships of primitive organisms; and the age of biotic events, which can constrain the ages of sedimentary rocks. Traditionally, […]