Amy McCune - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Amy McCune

Research paper thumbnail of Expression of a lung developmental cassette in the adult and developing zebrafish swimbladder

Evolution & Development, Mar 1, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Contrasting Patterns of Spatial Genetic Structure in Sympatric Rock-Dwelling Cichlid Fishes

Research paper thumbnail of Author response for "Dorsoventral inversion of the air‐filled organ (lungs, gas bladder) in vertebrates: RNAsequencing of laser capture microdissected embryonic tissue

Research paper thumbnail of An embryonic staging series up to hatching for Cyprinodon variegatus : An emerging fish model for developmental, evolutionary, and ecological research

Journal of Morphology, Oct 22, 2018

Using multiple taxa to research development is necessary for making general conclusions about dev... more Using multiple taxa to research development is necessary for making general conclusions about developmental patterns and mechanisms. We present a staging series for Cyprinodon variegatus as a basis for further study of the developmental biology of fishes in the genus Cyprinodon and for comparative work on teleost fishes beyond the standard models. Cyprinodon are small, euryhaline fishes, widely distributed in fresh, brackish, and hypersaline waters of southern and eastern North America. Cyprinodontids are closely related to fundulids, providing a comparative reference point to the embryological model, Fundulus heteroclitus. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists commonly study Cyprinodon, and we have been using Cyprinodon to study skull variation and its genetic basis among closely related species. We divided embryonic development of C. variegatus into 34 morphologically identifiable stages. We reference our staging series to that already defined for a related model species, Oryzias latipes (medaka) that is studied by a large community of researchers. We provide a description of the early chondrogenesis and ossification of skull and caudal fin bones during the latter stages of embryonic development. We show that Cyprinodon are tractable for studying development. Eggs can be obtained easily from breeding pairs and our study provides a staging system to facilitate future developmental studies.

Research paper thumbnail of Comparative osteology of the Danio (Cyprinidae: Ostariophysi) axial skeleton with comments on Danio relationships based on molecules and morphology

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Jul 29, 2002

Danio is a diverse group of small, colourful and easily bred freshwater fishes native to Southern... more Danio is a diverse group of small, colourful and easily bred freshwater fishes native to Southern Asia. Biological interest in danios has increased in recent years because the zebrafish, Danio rerio, has become an important model organism, particularly for studies of vertebrate developmental biology and genetics. Though several phylogenetic studies of Danio have been done on a subset of Danio species, the resulting phylogenies conflict in detail. To examine the utility of osteology for systematics of this group at the species level, we studied the axial skeleton for 11 species of Danio. We analyse our morphological data alone and combined with DNA sequence data for five gene sequences generated in earlier phylogenetic studies. The axial skeleton of Danio exhibits 14 characters that prove useful in phylogenetic analysis. Both molecular and morphological data support the monophyly of the danios included in our analysis and both data sets support the monophyly of two subclades: a deep-bodied group and a slender-bodied group. Separate analysis of molecular and morphological data sets show that the molecular data resolves relationships within the slender subclade whereas the topology of the deep-bodied subclade is determined by morphological data.

Research paper thumbnail of Scale structure as evidence of growth patterns in fossil semionotid fishes

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Nov 1, 1984

... KEITH STEWART THOMSONt and AMY REED MCCUNP 'Department of Biology and Peabody Museum of ... more ... KEITH STEWART THOMSONt and AMY REED MCCUNP 'Department of Biology and Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New ... guide and assistant in the laboratory, as were Wallace Phelps, William Sacco (photographer), and Alan Pooley (electron microscope ...

Research paper thumbnail of Evolutionary Novelty and Atavism in the Semionotus Complex: Relaxed Selection During Colonization of an Expanding Lake

Research paper thumbnail of Lakes as Laboratories of Evolution: Endemic Fishes and Environmental Cyclicity

PALAIOS, 1987

Lacustrine sedimentary sequences have tremendous potential for evolutionary studies because 1) th... more Lacustrine sedimentary sequences have tremendous potential for evolutionary studies because 1) the sedimentary record in lakes provides greater resolution than most other continental or marine sequences and 2) the lake environment seems conducive to speciation, as evidenced by the many examples of lacustrine species flocks. In this paper I present distributional data for 26 species of Semionotus in four temporally distinct lake deposits in the Newark Basin (Late Triassic-Early Jurassic). These data suggest that the effect of environmental cyclicity-the repeated cycles of formation and evaporation of lakes in the same basinis not to accumulate species diversity over the long term. Rather, the effect is to decrease diversity when lakes evaporate and, alternately, to provide ecological opportunity during lake expansion, thus allowing the proliferation of species.

Research paper thumbnail of Co-opting evo-devo concepts for new insights into mechanisms of behavioural diversity

The Journal of Experimental Biology, Apr 15, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Quantitative Description of Body Form in Fishes: Implications for Species Level Taxonomy and Ecological Inference

Copeia, Dec 29, 1981

... Nature 237:515-516. JULES M. CRANE JR., Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacifi... more ... Nature 237:515-516. JULES M. CRANE JR., Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California 93950. Present Address: Department of Biology, Cerritos College, Norwalk, California 90650. Ac-cepted 17 Sept. 1980. Copeia, 1981(4), pp. 897-901 ? ...

Research paper thumbnail of Diversity and Speciation of Semionotid Fishes in Mesozoic Rift Lakes

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 2, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Heterochrony In Jaw Morphology of Needlefishes (Teleostei: Belonidae)

Systematic Biology, Sep 1, 1991

... DAVID A. BOUGHTON,1-3 BRUCE B. COLLETTE,2 AND AMY R. MCCUNE1 lSection of Ecology and Systemat... more ... DAVID A. BOUGHTON,1-3 BRUCE B. COLLETTE,2 AND AMY R. MCCUNE1 lSection of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Biological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York ... more plesiomorphic condition of fewer, larger scales (Parin, 1967; Collette and Pa-rin, 1970). ...

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the scales in Lepisosteus as a model for scale formation in fossil fishes

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Sep 1, 1984

ABSTRACT The living holostean fish Lepisosteus and the closely related Atractosteus offer a uniqu... more ABSTRACT The living holostean fish Lepisosteus and the closely related Atractosteus offer a unique opportunity to study the development and homology of the ganoine-covered scales typical of early groups of actinopterygian fishes. Unlike the living chondrostean Polypterus, the scales of lepisosteids lack dentine and thus the role of the dentine, epidermis and mesodermal mesenchyme can be compared. Formation of the ‘preganoine’ is shown for the first time in Lepisosteus. Initial results show that in Lepisosteus ganoine is formed on the inner surface of a cell layer, apparently mesenchymal in origin, proliferating deep to the epidermal basement membrane. If this is correct ganoine in Lepisosteus is mesodermal and its formation has changed significantly from the pattern in the closely related fossil Semionotidae where dentine is present and is presumably involved in ganoine formation. The canals of Williamson in early fossil fishes were formed by migrating cells that played a major role in bone morphogenesis. The Lepisosteidae offer a unique opportunity to study these cells in a living vertebrate.

Research paper thumbnail of Twenty ways to lose your bladder: common natural mutants in zebrafish and widespread convergence of swim bladder loss among teleost fishes

Evolution & Development, Jul 1, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of On the Fallacy of Constant Extinction Rates

Evolution, May 1, 1982

Page 1. Evolution, 36(3), 1982, pp. 610-614 ON THE FALLACY OF CONSTANT EXTINCTION RATES ... When ... more Page 1. Evolution, 36(3), 1982, pp. 610-614 ON THE FALLACY OF CONSTANT EXTINCTION RATES ... When the curve is a straight line the slopes over all intervals are equal, which means that the proba-bility of extinction is constant with respect to the duration of taxa. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Recent speciation between sympatric Tanganyikan cichlid colour morphs

Molecular Ecology, May 22, 2012

Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s oldest lake, harbours an impressive diversity of cichlid fishes. Althou... more Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s oldest lake, harbours an impressive diversity of cichlid fishes. Although diversification in its radiating groups is thought to have been initially rapid, cichlids from Lake Tanganyika show little evidence for ongoing speciation. In contrast, examples of recent divergence among sympatric colour morphs are well known in haplochromine cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Victoria. Here, we report genetic evidence for recent divergence between two sympatric Tanganyikan cichlid colour morphs. These Petrochromis morphs share mitochondrial haplotypes, yet microsatellite loci reveal that their sympatric populations form distinct genetic groups. Nuclear divergence between the two morphs is equivalent to that which arises geographically within one of the morphs over short distances and is substantially smaller than that among other sympatric species in this genus. These patterns suggest that these morphs diverged only recently, yet that barriers to gene flow exist which prevent extensive admixture despite their sympatric distribution. The morphs studied here provide an unusual example of active diversification in Lake Tanganyika’s generally ancient cichlid fauna and enable comparisons of speciation processes between Lake Tanganyika and other African lakes.

Research paper thumbnail of Reinventing species selection with molecular phylogenies

Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Feb 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Complex: Relaxed Selection During Colonization of an Expanding Lake

Research paper thumbnail of Two classes of deleterious recessive alleles in a natural population of zebrafish,Danio rerio

Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Oct 7, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Rapid Speciation in Species Flocks

Blackwell Science Ltd eBooks, Dec 13, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Expression of a lung developmental cassette in the adult and developing zebrafish swimbladder

Evolution & Development, Mar 1, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Contrasting Patterns of Spatial Genetic Structure in Sympatric Rock-Dwelling Cichlid Fishes

Research paper thumbnail of Author response for "Dorsoventral inversion of the air‐filled organ (lungs, gas bladder) in vertebrates: RNAsequencing of laser capture microdissected embryonic tissue

Research paper thumbnail of An embryonic staging series up to hatching for Cyprinodon variegatus : An emerging fish model for developmental, evolutionary, and ecological research

Journal of Morphology, Oct 22, 2018

Using multiple taxa to research development is necessary for making general conclusions about dev... more Using multiple taxa to research development is necessary for making general conclusions about developmental patterns and mechanisms. We present a staging series for Cyprinodon variegatus as a basis for further study of the developmental biology of fishes in the genus Cyprinodon and for comparative work on teleost fishes beyond the standard models. Cyprinodon are small, euryhaline fishes, widely distributed in fresh, brackish, and hypersaline waters of southern and eastern North America. Cyprinodontids are closely related to fundulids, providing a comparative reference point to the embryological model, Fundulus heteroclitus. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists commonly study Cyprinodon, and we have been using Cyprinodon to study skull variation and its genetic basis among closely related species. We divided embryonic development of C. variegatus into 34 morphologically identifiable stages. We reference our staging series to that already defined for a related model species, Oryzias latipes (medaka) that is studied by a large community of researchers. We provide a description of the early chondrogenesis and ossification of skull and caudal fin bones during the latter stages of embryonic development. We show that Cyprinodon are tractable for studying development. Eggs can be obtained easily from breeding pairs and our study provides a staging system to facilitate future developmental studies.

Research paper thumbnail of Comparative osteology of the Danio (Cyprinidae: Ostariophysi) axial skeleton with comments on Danio relationships based on molecules and morphology

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Jul 29, 2002

Danio is a diverse group of small, colourful and easily bred freshwater fishes native to Southern... more Danio is a diverse group of small, colourful and easily bred freshwater fishes native to Southern Asia. Biological interest in danios has increased in recent years because the zebrafish, Danio rerio, has become an important model organism, particularly for studies of vertebrate developmental biology and genetics. Though several phylogenetic studies of Danio have been done on a subset of Danio species, the resulting phylogenies conflict in detail. To examine the utility of osteology for systematics of this group at the species level, we studied the axial skeleton for 11 species of Danio. We analyse our morphological data alone and combined with DNA sequence data for five gene sequences generated in earlier phylogenetic studies. The axial skeleton of Danio exhibits 14 characters that prove useful in phylogenetic analysis. Both molecular and morphological data support the monophyly of the danios included in our analysis and both data sets support the monophyly of two subclades: a deep-bodied group and a slender-bodied group. Separate analysis of molecular and morphological data sets show that the molecular data resolves relationships within the slender subclade whereas the topology of the deep-bodied subclade is determined by morphological data.

Research paper thumbnail of Scale structure as evidence of growth patterns in fossil semionotid fishes

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Nov 1, 1984

... KEITH STEWART THOMSONt and AMY REED MCCUNP 'Department of Biology and Peabody Museum of ... more ... KEITH STEWART THOMSONt and AMY REED MCCUNP 'Department of Biology and Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New ... guide and assistant in the laboratory, as were Wallace Phelps, William Sacco (photographer), and Alan Pooley (electron microscope ...

Research paper thumbnail of Evolutionary Novelty and Atavism in the Semionotus Complex: Relaxed Selection During Colonization of an Expanding Lake

Research paper thumbnail of Lakes as Laboratories of Evolution: Endemic Fishes and Environmental Cyclicity

PALAIOS, 1987

Lacustrine sedimentary sequences have tremendous potential for evolutionary studies because 1) th... more Lacustrine sedimentary sequences have tremendous potential for evolutionary studies because 1) the sedimentary record in lakes provides greater resolution than most other continental or marine sequences and 2) the lake environment seems conducive to speciation, as evidenced by the many examples of lacustrine species flocks. In this paper I present distributional data for 26 species of Semionotus in four temporally distinct lake deposits in the Newark Basin (Late Triassic-Early Jurassic). These data suggest that the effect of environmental cyclicity-the repeated cycles of formation and evaporation of lakes in the same basinis not to accumulate species diversity over the long term. Rather, the effect is to decrease diversity when lakes evaporate and, alternately, to provide ecological opportunity during lake expansion, thus allowing the proliferation of species.

Research paper thumbnail of Co-opting evo-devo concepts for new insights into mechanisms of behavioural diversity

The Journal of Experimental Biology, Apr 15, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Quantitative Description of Body Form in Fishes: Implications for Species Level Taxonomy and Ecological Inference

Copeia, Dec 29, 1981

... Nature 237:515-516. JULES M. CRANE JR., Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacifi... more ... Nature 237:515-516. JULES M. CRANE JR., Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California 93950. Present Address: Department of Biology, Cerritos College, Norwalk, California 90650. Ac-cepted 17 Sept. 1980. Copeia, 1981(4), pp. 897-901 ? ...

Research paper thumbnail of Diversity and Speciation of Semionotid Fishes in Mesozoic Rift Lakes

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 2, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Heterochrony In Jaw Morphology of Needlefishes (Teleostei: Belonidae)

Systematic Biology, Sep 1, 1991

... DAVID A. BOUGHTON,1-3 BRUCE B. COLLETTE,2 AND AMY R. MCCUNE1 lSection of Ecology and Systemat... more ... DAVID A. BOUGHTON,1-3 BRUCE B. COLLETTE,2 AND AMY R. MCCUNE1 lSection of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Biological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York ... more plesiomorphic condition of fewer, larger scales (Parin, 1967; Collette and Pa-rin, 1970). ...

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the scales in Lepisosteus as a model for scale formation in fossil fishes

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Sep 1, 1984

ABSTRACT The living holostean fish Lepisosteus and the closely related Atractosteus offer a uniqu... more ABSTRACT The living holostean fish Lepisosteus and the closely related Atractosteus offer a unique opportunity to study the development and homology of the ganoine-covered scales typical of early groups of actinopterygian fishes. Unlike the living chondrostean Polypterus, the scales of lepisosteids lack dentine and thus the role of the dentine, epidermis and mesodermal mesenchyme can be compared. Formation of the ‘preganoine’ is shown for the first time in Lepisosteus. Initial results show that in Lepisosteus ganoine is formed on the inner surface of a cell layer, apparently mesenchymal in origin, proliferating deep to the epidermal basement membrane. If this is correct ganoine in Lepisosteus is mesodermal and its formation has changed significantly from the pattern in the closely related fossil Semionotidae where dentine is present and is presumably involved in ganoine formation. The canals of Williamson in early fossil fishes were formed by migrating cells that played a major role in bone morphogenesis. The Lepisosteidae offer a unique opportunity to study these cells in a living vertebrate.

Research paper thumbnail of Twenty ways to lose your bladder: common natural mutants in zebrafish and widespread convergence of swim bladder loss among teleost fishes

Evolution & Development, Jul 1, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of On the Fallacy of Constant Extinction Rates

Evolution, May 1, 1982

Page 1. Evolution, 36(3), 1982, pp. 610-614 ON THE FALLACY OF CONSTANT EXTINCTION RATES ... When ... more Page 1. Evolution, 36(3), 1982, pp. 610-614 ON THE FALLACY OF CONSTANT EXTINCTION RATES ... When the curve is a straight line the slopes over all intervals are equal, which means that the proba-bility of extinction is constant with respect to the duration of taxa. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Recent speciation between sympatric Tanganyikan cichlid colour morphs

Molecular Ecology, May 22, 2012

Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s oldest lake, harbours an impressive diversity of cichlid fishes. Althou... more Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s oldest lake, harbours an impressive diversity of cichlid fishes. Although diversification in its radiating groups is thought to have been initially rapid, cichlids from Lake Tanganyika show little evidence for ongoing speciation. In contrast, examples of recent divergence among sympatric colour morphs are well known in haplochromine cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Victoria. Here, we report genetic evidence for recent divergence between two sympatric Tanganyikan cichlid colour morphs. These Petrochromis morphs share mitochondrial haplotypes, yet microsatellite loci reveal that their sympatric populations form distinct genetic groups. Nuclear divergence between the two morphs is equivalent to that which arises geographically within one of the morphs over short distances and is substantially smaller than that among other sympatric species in this genus. These patterns suggest that these morphs diverged only recently, yet that barriers to gene flow exist which prevent extensive admixture despite their sympatric distribution. The morphs studied here provide an unusual example of active diversification in Lake Tanganyika’s generally ancient cichlid fauna and enable comparisons of speciation processes between Lake Tanganyika and other African lakes.

Research paper thumbnail of Reinventing species selection with molecular phylogenies

Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Feb 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Complex: Relaxed Selection During Colonization of an Expanding Lake

Research paper thumbnail of Two classes of deleterious recessive alleles in a natural population of zebrafish,Danio rerio

Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Oct 7, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Rapid Speciation in Species Flocks

Blackwell Science Ltd eBooks, Dec 13, 2007