Allometric growth of the trunk leads to the rostral shift of the pelvic fin in teleost fishes.

The pelvic fin position among teleost fishes has shifted rostrally during evolution, resulting in diversification of both behavior and habitat. We explored the developmental basis for the rostral shift in pelvic fin position in teleost fishes using zebrafish (abdominal pelvic fins) and Nile tilapia (thoracic pelvic fins). Cell fate mapping experiments revealed that changes in the distribution of lateral plate mesodermal cells accompany the trunk-tail protrusion.

Chronology of the extant African elephant species and case study of the species identification of the small African elephant with the molecular phylogenetic method.

Despite vigorous genetic studies of African elephants (Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis) during the last decade, their evolutionary history is still obscure. Phylogenetic studies and coalescence time estimation using longer nucleotide sequence data from denser samplings are necessary to better understand the natural history of African elephants.

Afrotherian phylogeny as inferred from complete mitochondrial genomes.

Afrotheria is a huge assemblage of various mammals encompassing six orders that were once classified as distantly related groups. This superordinal relationship may have resulted from the break-up of Gondowanaland followed by the isolation of the African continent between 105 and 40 million years ago. Although the monophyly of Afrotheria is well supported by recent molecular studies, the interrelationships within afrotherian mammals remain unclarified.