Synergistic innovations enabled the radiation of anglerfishes in the deep open ocean.

Major ecological transitions are thought to fuel diversification, but whether they are contingent on the evolution of certain traits called key innovations is unclear. Key innovations are routinely invoked to explain how lineages rapidly exploit new ecological opportunities. However, investigations of key innovations often focus on single traits rather than considering trait combinations that collectively produce effects of interest.

Considering Decoupled Phenotypic Diversification Between Ontogenetic Phases in Macroevolution: An Example Using Triggerfishes (Balistidae).

Across the Tree of Life, most studies of phenotypic disparity and diversification have been restricted to adult organisms. However, many lineages have distinct ontogenetic phases that differ from their adult forms in morphology and ecology. Focusing disproportionately on the evolution of adult forms unnecessarily hinders our understanding of the pressures shaping evolution over time.

Periodic Environmental Disturbance Drives Repeated Ecomorphological Diversification in an Adaptive Radiation of Antarctic Fishes.

AbstractThe ecological theory of adaptive radiation has profoundly shaped our conceptualization of the rules that govern diversification. However, while many radiations follow classic early-burst patterns of diversification as they fill ecological space, the longer-term fates of these radiations depend on many factors, such as climatic stability. In systems with periodic disturbances, species-rich clades can contain nested adaptive radiations of subclades with their own distinct diversification histories, and how adaptive radiation theory applies in these cases is less clear.

FishShapes v1: Functionally relevant measurements of teleost shape and size on three dimensions.

Teleost fishes account for 96% of all fish species and exhibit a spectacular variety of body forms. Teleost lineages range from deep bodied to elongate (e.g.

Holosteans contextualize the role of the teleost genome duplication in promoting the rise of evolutionary novelties in the ray-finned fish innate immune system.

Over 99% of ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) are teleosts, a clade that comprises half of all living vertebrate species that have diversified across virtually all fresh and saltwater ecosystems. This ecological breadth raises the question of how the immunogenetic diversity required to persist under heterogeneous pathogen pressures evolved. The teleost genome duplication (TGD) has been hypothesized as the evolutionary event that provided the substrate for rapid genomic evolution and innovation.

Do key innovations unlock diversification? A case-study on the morphological and ecological impact of pharyngognathy in acanthomorph fishes.

Key innovations may allow lineages access to new resources and facilitate the invasion of new adaptive zones, potentially influencing diversification patterns. Many studies have focused on the impact of key innovations on speciation rates, but far less is known about how they influence phenotypic rates and patterns of ecomorphological diversification. We use the repeated evolution of pharyngognathy within acanthomorph fishes, a commonly cited key innovation, as a case study to explore the predictions of key innovation theory.

Phylogenomic Analysis of a Putative Missing Link Sparks Reinterpretation of Leech Evolution.

Leeches (Hirudinida) comprise a charismatic, yet often maligned group of organisms. Despite their ecological, economic, and medical importance, a general consensus on the phylogenetic relationships of major hirudinidan lineages is lacking. This absence of a consistent, robust phylogeny of early-diverging lineages has hindered our understanding of the underlying processes that enabled evolutionary diversification of this clade.

Testing ontogenetic patterns of sexual size dimorphism against expectations of the expensive tissue hypothesis, an intraspecific example using oyster toadfish ().

Trade-offs associated with sexual size dimorphism (SSD) are well documented across the Tree of Life. However, studies of SSD often do not consider potential investment trade-offs between metabolically expensive structures under sexual selection and other morphological modules. Based on the expectations of the expensive tissue hypothesis, investment in one metabolically expensive structure should come at the direct cost of investment in another.