Dr Ralf Britz

My research program focuses on comparative anatomy, phylogenetics, and taxonomy of actinopterygian and sarcopterygian fishes, ranging from general questions of evolutionary biology and homology and studies of higher level relationships to basal problems in taxonomy and systematics of various fish groups. Although my primary approach to phylogenetic questions is and will remain deeply founded in morphology, I have also developed an interest in tests of morphology-based hypotheses with molecular data and I am involved in several ongoing collaborations. My taxonomic interest lies with the freshwater fishes of Southeast Asia with a focus on Myanmar (Burma), a poorly known fauna with dozens of new species described each year. These systematic studies form the basis for more general questions about biogeographical pattern of this interesting region and how these have evolved. The morphology based questions I try to resolve concern the relationship between evolution and development. I investigate how ontogenies change during evolution and try to understand how complex structures, like e.g. the tail of the ocean sunfishes or the Weberian apparatus of otophysans, have evolved. In addition, I study the ontogeny of characters to resolve long-standing homology issues and thus to get a better idea about the phylogenetic relationships of various groups. I have recently become fascinated by the organismal consequences of miniaturization in teleosts caused by the evolutionary process of developmental truncation (progenesis) for which Paedocypris spp. and Danionella dracula are prime examples.