Department Chair & Head of College @ Yale University | PhD, Ichthyology, Phylogenetics, & Speciation
First of two new papers from the Near Lab out today! Find it here, https://rb.gy/sc3k Julia Wood takes the lead with Rich Harrington, Zach Alley, Matthew Thomas, Jeffrey Simmons, and yours truly to introduce the new Clarks Darter, Etheostoma xanthovum! This new species (A & B) was thought to be a population of the Guardian Darter, E. oophylax (C) but is the sister lineage of the endangered Relict Darter, E. chienense (D). The Clarks Darter is endemic to the Clarks River system in Tennessee and Kentucky and adjacent to the Bayou du Chien which is the only place E. chienense is distributed. The phylogenetic relationships among the species were investigated with ddRAD and mtDNA. Both types of molecular data reconstruct congruent phylogenies. Clarks Darter and Relict Darter are sister species! The tragic loss of species diversity driven by human activities is amplified by losing biodiversity we do not know exists. We at the Yale Peabody Museum and are working with https://lnkd.in/ebV-SBby to mitigate the crisis. In my part, I discover and describe biodiversity.
River Restoration Group Manager at NV5
1yAmazing work! As a river restoration practitioner in TN it is vital for this type of work to continue to guide where restoration and conservation efforts are prioritized. I hope we cross paths down the line!