Background Fish classifications, as those of most other taxonomic groups, are being
transformed drastically as new molecular phylogenies provide support for natural groups …

Acquisition of evolutionary novelties is a fundamental process for adapting to the external
environment and invading new niches and results in the diversification of life, which we can …

The tree of life of fishes is in a state of flux because we still lack a comprehensive phylogeny
that includes all major groups. The situation is most critical for a large clade of spiny-finned …

The fish faunas of continental South and Central America constitute one of the greatest
concentrations of aquatic diversity on Earth, consisting of about 10 percent of all living …

The bony-tongue fishes, Osteoglossomorpha, have been the focus of a great deal of
morphological, systematic, and evolutionary study, due in part to their basal position among …

Abstract The Neotropical catfish family Loricariidae is the fifth most species-rich vertebrate
family on Earth, with over 800 valid species. The Hypostominae is its most species-rich …

Background Freshwater harbors approximately 12,000 fish species accounting for 43% of
the diversity of all modern fish. A single ancestral lineage evolved into about two-thirds of …

Late Mesozoic palaeobiogeography has been characterized by a distinction between the
northern territories of Laurasia and the southern landmasses of Gondwana. The repeated …

Neotropical freshwaters host more than 6000 fish species, of which 983 are suckermouth
armored catfishes of the family Loricariidae–the most-diverse catfish family and fifth most …

The skeletal muscles of the dorsolateral region of the head of the Nematogenyidae and
representatives of the all major clades of the Trichomycteridae are described and illustrated …