A5002799814- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Ichthyology and Marine Biology
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
- Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Amphibian and Reptile Biology
- Aquaculture disease management and microbiota
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Identification and Quantification in Food
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Team Dynamics and Performance
- Knowledge Management and Sharing
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Plant and animal studies
- Fish Biology and Ecology Studies
- Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- Memory Processes and Influences
- Immune Cell Function and Interaction
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Polar Research and Ecology
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Leech Biology and Applications
- Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
2020-2025
North Carolina State University
2020-2022
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
2015-2021
North Central State College
2020
Yale University
2009-2016
American Museum of Natural History
2012-2015
Yale Peabody Museum
2014
Sandia National Laboratories California
2007-2011
Sandia National Laboratories
2006-2009
Washington State University
2008
Ray-finned fishes make up half of all living vertebrate species. Nearly ray-finned are teleosts, which include most commercially important fish species, several model organisms for genomics and developmental biology, the dominant component marine freshwater faunas. Despite economic scientific importance fishes, lack a single comprehensive phylogeny with corresponding divergence-time estimates has limited our understanding evolution diversification this radiation. Our analyses, use multiple...
The uneven distribution of species richness is a fundamental and unexplained pattern vertebrate biodiversity. Although in groups like mammals, birds, or teleost fishes often attributed to accelerated cladogenesis, we lack quantitative conceptual framework for identifying comparing the exceptional changes tempo evolutionary history. We develop MEDUSA, stepwise approach based upon Akaike information criterion detecting multiple shifts birth death rates on an incompletely resolved phylogeny....
Spiny-rayed fishes, or acanthomorphs, comprise nearly one-third of all living vertebrates. Despite their dominant role in aquatic ecosystems, the evolutionary history and tempo acanthomorph diversification is poorly understood. We investigate pattern lineage acanthomorphs by using a well-resolved time-calibrated phylogeny inferred from nuclear gene supermatrix that includes 520 species 37 fossil age constraints. This provides resolution for what has been classically referred to as “bush at...
The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth, but has experienced episodic climate change during past 40 million years. It remains unclear how ancient periods of have shaped Antarctic biodiversity. origin antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) in notothenioid fishes become a classic example evolution key innovation response to can drive adaptive radiation. By using time-calibrated molecular phylogeny notothenioids and reconstructed paleoclimate, we...
Among the most consequential unknowns of devastating COVID-19 pandemic are durability immunity and time to likely reinfection. There limited direct data on SARS-CoV-2 long-term immune responses The aim this study is use among evolutionarily close coronavirus relatives estimate times reinfection by a comparative evolutionary analysis related viruses SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, human (HCoV)-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63.We conducted phylogenetic analyses S, M, ORF1b genes reconstruct maximum-likelihood...
The durability of vaccine-mediated immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the durations breakthrough infection, and optimal timings booster vaccination are crucial knowledge for pandemic response. Here, we applied comparative evolutionary analyses estimate likelihood infections over time following by BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), mRNA-1273 (Moderna), ChAdOx1 (Oxford-AstraZeneca), Ad26.COV2.S (Johnson & Johnson/Janssen). We evaluated anti-Spike (S) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody levels elicited each vaccine...
Cichlid fishes are a key model system in the study of adaptive radiation, speciation and evolutionary developmental biology. More than 1600 cichlid species inhabit freshwater marginal marine environments across several southern landmasses. This distributional pattern, combined with parallels between phylogeny sequences Mesozoic continental rifting, has led to widely accepted hypothesis that cichlids an ancient group whose major biogeographic patterns arose from Gondwanan vicariance. Although...
Various nucleotide substitution models have been developed to accommodate among lineage rate heterogeneity, thereby relaxing the assumptions of strict molecular clock. Recently "uncorrelated relaxed clock" and "random local (RLC) allow decoupling rates between descendant lineages are thus predicted perform better in presence lineage-specific heterogeneity. However, it is uncertain how these punctuated shifts rate, especially closely related clades. Using cetaceans (whales dolphins) as a case...
Discordance among individual molecular age estimates, or between estimates and the fossil record, is observed in many clades across Tree of Life. This discordance attributed to a variety variables including calibration uncertainty, placement, nucleotide substitution rate heterogeneity, specified clock model. However, impact changes phylogenetic informativeness genes over time on inferences rarely analyzed. Using nuclear mitochondrial sequence data for ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) as an...
The emergence of a new phylogeny ray-finned fishes at the turn twenty-first century marked paradigm shift in understanding evolutionary history half living vertebrates. We review how fish radically departs from classical expectations based on morphology. focus relationships that span backbone phylogeny, earliest divergences among teleosts and nonteleosts to resolution major lineages Percomorpha. Throughout, we feature advances gained by toward broader implications for topics genetics human...
Abstract The bowfin ( Amia calva ) is a ray-finned fish that possesses unique suite of ancestral and derived phenotypes, which are key to understanding vertebrate evolution. phylogenetic position as representative neopterygian fishes, its archetypical body plan unduplicated slowly evolving genome make central species for the genomic exploration fishes. Here we present chromosome-level assembly enables gene-order analyses, settling long-debated relationships. We examine chromatin...
The seasonality of COVID-19 is important for effective healthcare and public health decision-making. Previous waves SARS-CoV-2 infections have indicated that the virus will likely persist as an endemic pathogen with distinct surges. However, timing patterns potentially seasonal surges remain uncertain, rendering policies uninformed in danger poorly anticipating opportunities intervention, such well-timed booster vaccination drives. Applying evolutionary approach to long-term data on closely...
Major ecological transitions are thought to fuel diversification, but whether they contingent on the evolution of certain traits called key innovations1Miller A.H. Stroud J.T. Losos J.B. The ecology and innovations.Trends Ecol. Evol. 2023; 38: 122-131https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.09.005Abstract Full Text PDF Scopus (13) Google Scholar is unclear. Key innovations routinely invoked explain how lineages rapidly exploit new opportunities.1Miller Scholar,2Stroud Ecological Opportunity...
Innovations in locomotor morphology have been invoked as important drivers of vertebrate diversification, although the influence novel locomotion strategies on marine fish diversification remains largely unexplored. Using triggerfish a case study, we determine whether evolution distinctive synchronization enlarged dorsal and anal fins that use to swim may catalyzed ecological group. By adopting comparative phylogenetic approach quantify median fin body shape integration assess tempo...
Ostariophysi is a superorder of bony fishes including more than 10,300 species in 1100 genera and 70 families. This traditionally divided into five major groups (orders): Gonorynchiformes (milkfishes sandfishes), Cypriniformes (carps minnows), Characiformes (tetras their allies), Siluriformes (catfishes), Gymnotiformes (electric knifefishes). Unambiguous resolution the relationships among these lineages remains elusive, with previous molecular morphological analyses failing to produce...
Notothenioids are a clade of ∼120 species marine fishes distributed in extreme southern hemisphere temperate near-shore habitats and the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Over past 25 years, molecular morphological approaches have redefined hypotheses relationships among notothenioid lineages as well their major percomorph teleosts. These phylogenies provide basis for investigation mechanisms evolutionary diversification within enhanced our understanding adaptive radiation. Despite...
Antarctic notothenioids are an impressive adaptive radiation. While they share recent common ancestry with several species-depauperate lineages that exhibit a relictual distribution in areas peripheral to the Southern Ocean, understanding of their evolutionary origins and biogeographic history is limited as sister lineage remains unidentified. The phylogenetic placement among major perciform fishes, which include sculpins, rockfishes, sticklebacks, eelpouts, scorpionfishes, perches, groupers...
Abstract Cancer progression is an evolutionary process. During this process, evolving cancer cell populations encounter restrictive ecological niches within the body, such as primary tumor, circulatory system, and diverse metastatic sites. Efforts to prevent or delay evolution—and progression—require a deep understanding of underlying molecular processes. Herein we discuss suite concepts tools from theory that can inform biology in new meaningful ways. We also highlight current challenges...
Abstract One of the most consequential unknowns COVID‐19 pandemic is frequency at which vaccine boosting provides sufficient protection from infection. We quantified statistical likelihood breakthrough infections over time following different schedules with messenger RNA (mRNA)‐1273 (Moderna) and BNT162b2 (Pfizer‐BioNTech). integrated anti‐Spike IgG antibody optical densities profiles waning antibodies corresponding probabilities infection associated coronavirus endemic transmission....
The selection of fossil data to use as calibration age priors in molecular divergence time estimates inherently links neontological methods with paleontological theory. However, few studies have taken into account the possibility a taphonomic bias record when developing approaches selection. Sppil–Rongis effect may first appearance lineage toward recent causing most objective erroneously exclude appropriate calibrations or incorporate multiple that are too young accurately represent times...