This three-year, $115,031 project grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences aims to examine the role of the Devonian/Carboniferous extinction event approximately 359 million years ago in precipitating an apparent explosion of diversity among ray-finned fishes. Funded under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), the University of Chicago will integrate fossil, functional, and phylogenetic data to test hypotheses about increased functional and morphological diversity, evolutionary divergences and patterns of survival across the extinction boundary for Devonian and Carboniferous actinopterygians. Specifically, the university will (1) quantify discrete functional innovations and biomechanics as well as shape for mandibles, (2) develop an inclusive hypothesis of early actinopterygian relationships through integrated anatomical, stratigraphic and molecular data, and (3) combine functional, morphological and new phylogenetic data to test for shifts in evolutionary rates and modes associated with the extinction event. Outreach efforts include educational programming and materials targeting underrepresented STEM students and the general public.
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