Research
by AMNH Ichthyologists
The curators,
postdoctoral fellows, students, staff, and associates
of the Department of Ichthyology at the American
Museum of Natural History work to discover, document,
and explain the diversity of the world's fishes. The
Departmental scientists' research focuses on
the
phylogeny and
biogeography of Recent fishes, classical
collection-based revisionary studies, species
discovery, and detailed comparative anatomical
studies. However, the department also has breadth in
a number of other aspects of comparative evolutionary
biology, including, but not
limited to,
freshwater conservation, phylogenetic and
biogeoraphic theory, sensory biology, and molecular
evolution. The Departmental scientists use a vast
range of techniques to address the specific questions
being investigated, from traditional histological
an
comparative
anatomical approaches to more state-of-the-art
methods based on the analysis of nucleotide
sequences, computerized x-ray tomography (CT scans),
and geospatial applications. All three curators
strongly believe that expeditions and collections are
an essential component of ichthyological research.
The curators all maintain active field programs and
encourage and include their post-docs and students in
their fieldwork.
Please see
the Publications and Fieldwork pages for more information and
the links to the right for more detailed research
information about departmental scientists.
Departmental scientists have described more than 90 new species of fishes, with dozens of additional species descriptions in review or in preparation. See the New Species Gallery to see images of many of these fishes.
Departmental scientists have described more than 90 new species of fishes, with dozens of additional species descriptions in review or in preparation. See the New Species Gallery to see images of many of these fishes.
