The Origin of Higher Clades

Download or read book The Origin of Higher Clades written by Rui Diogo and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-03-05 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides insight on the osteology, myology, phylogeny and evolution of Osteichthyes. It not only provides an extensive cladistic analysis of osteichthyan higher-level inter-relationships based on a phylogenetic comparison of 356 characters in 80 extant and fossil terminal taxa representing all major groups of Osteichthyes, but also analyses various terminal taxa and osteological characters. And also provides a general discussion on issues such as the comparative anatomy, homologies and evolution of osteichthyan cranial and pectoral muscles, the development of zebrafish cephalic muscles and the implications for evolutionary developmental studies, the origin homologies and evolution of one of the most peculiar and enigmatic structural complexes of osteichthyans, the Weberian apparatus, and the use of myological versus osteological characters in phylogenetic reconstructions.