RESEARCH INTERESTS
Phylogenomics of Bonytongues (Osteoglossomorpha)
Fig 1. from Peterson et. al, 2022: (a-d): previous morphological and molecular phylogenetic hypotheses for Osteoglossomorpha. Inter-continental sister-group relationships implied by these phylogenies include (e): Maximum Likelihood tree for Osteoglossomorpha based on a concatenated 546 exon dataset (this study). (f): Pantodon buchholzi (Pantodontidae); (g): Osteoglossum bicirrhosum (Osteoglossidae); (h): Chitala chitala (Notopteridae); (i): Gymnarchus niloticus (Gymnarchidae); (j): Mormyrops boulengeri (tubesnout); (k): Gnathonemus petersii (Schnauzenorgan); (l): Marcusenius stanleyanus (chin swelling; CUMV 96481); and (m): Campylomormyrus mirus (tube snout with Schnauzenorgan).
Convergence of Cranial Facial in African Weakly Electric Fish (Mormyridae)
Osteoglossomorpha (Bonytongues) represent an enigmatic lineage of early-diverging teleost fish. This order contains clades such as the African Weakly Electric Fish (Mormyridae), the Featherbacks (Notopteridae), the African Butterflyfish (Pantodontidae), and Arapaima (Osteoglossidae). Our study combines genomic markers with six fossil calibrations providing unprecedented resolution for this clade. Noteworthy, our phylogeny resolves the position of the African Butterly fish (Pantodontidae), typically a rogue taxon, as sister to all osteoglossiforms. Our study provides a phylogenetic framework to investigate the evolutionary history of Bonytongues.
African Weakly Electric Fish (Mormyridae) are characterized by five unique character states chin swellings, schnauzenorgan, normal, tubesnouts, and tubesnouts with schauzenorgan. These character states are hypothesized to either enhance foraging behavior or amplify electrosensory abilities. These different appendages have evolved multiple times independently within African Weakly Electric Fishes. Therefore, to understand how and why these traits might be convergent, these character states will be investigated with both histology and comparative genomics.