In this Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant, Eric Findeis, working under the direction of William Bemis at the University of Massachusetts, proposes an integrated study of the anatomy, development and functional morphology of the cranium in a primitive group of fishes, the sturgeons. Data from all of the studies will be used to reconstruct the phylogenetic history of the sturgeons and in analyses of evolutionary trends in the group. The family Acipenseridae (sturgeons) comprises 24 living species divided into four genera in two subfamilies. The Acipenseridae, in turn, are part of a higher taxonomic grouping of fin-rayed fishes termed the Chondrostei which includes the apparent sister group of the Acipenseridae, the paddlefishes (Polyodontidae), gars and the bowfin. Findeis will use the paddlefishes as the "outgroup" for determining which traits are primitive and which are evolutionarily advanced. The study of primitive vertebrates such as the sturgeons is important in gaining an understanding of the evolutionary history of the modern vertebrates.
