MORPHOLOGY AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF EARLY OSTEICHTHYANS.  The Devonian Period (360-419 Ma) witnessed critical innovations in life on earth, including the assembly of the fundamental bodyplans of jawed vertebrates.  My research has examined many of the major groups of early osteichthyans (bony fishes) from localities across the globe, including Europe (Bergisch-Gladbach, Scaat Crag), Greenland (Aina Dal Formation, Obrutschew Bjerg Formation), and North America (Beartooth Butte Formation, Jefferson Formation, Parting Formation, Catskill Formation).   An emphasis is placed on sarcopterygians in general, and lungfishes in particular.  Extant lungfishes are classically viewed as 'living fossils', and the group as a whole is often used as a textbook example of a slow-evolving lineage.  Early lungfishes were remarkably diverse and appear to have had much higher rates of evolution than post-Devonian forms.  Unfortunately, the interrelationships of the earliest lungfishes remains an area of considerable uncertainty.  My research combines new analytical techniques (computed tomography or CT imaging) and novel character sets in order to develop a robust phylogenetic framework that can be used to critically test long-standing hypotheses concerning evolutionary dynamics in this group.   DIVERSIFICATION AND SYSTEMATICS OF ACANTHOMORPH TELEOSTS. Acanthomorphs are a morphologically disparate group of fishes, and include members as different from one another as flounders, anglerfishes, and seahorses.  Much of this diversity appears to have been generated in explosive fashion during the latest Cretaceous and earliest Paleogene, paralleling patterns of diversification seen in neornithine birds and eutherian mammals.  My studies of fossil acanthomorphs focuses on both well-studied faunas (e.g., Monte Bolca) and poorly or undocumented assemblages (Paleogene of western Peru).  Apart from efforts to document the sequence of character evolution leading to derived modern groups, my research on acanthomorphs examines on patterns of morphological diversification using landmark-based geometric morphometrics.  Many studies of changing levels of anatomical diversity over time are largely anecdotal, due to the lack of clear null expectations.  My work couples morphometric data with simulation approaches in order to explicitly test the significance of changing patterns of diversity observed in the fossil record.

 

PUBLICATIONS

peer-reviewed research Friedman, M.  Submitted. Bony fishes.  Palaeontological Association Field Guide to Fossils: Fossils of the Type Maastrichtian.  [17] Coates, M. I., Ruta. M, and Friedman, M.  In press.  Ever since Owen: changing perspectives on the early evolution of tetrapods.  Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution & Systematics. [16] Coates, M. I. and Friedman, M.  In press.  Litoptychus bryanti and characteristics of stem tetrapod neurocrania.  Fossil Fishes and Related Biota: Morphology, Phylogeny and Palaeobiogeography—in Honor of Meemann Chang.  [15] Friedman, M. In press.  Postcranial evolution in early lungfishes (Dipnoi: Sarcopterygii): new insights from Soederberghia groenlandica. Fossil Fishes and Related Biota: Morphology, Phylogeny and Palaeobiogeography—in Honor of Meemann Chang. [14] Friedman, M.  2008.  The evolutionary origin of flatfish asymmetry.  Nature 454: 209-212. (e-mail for PDF, Janvier N&V, supplement) (UC press release) (Carl Zimmer blog entry) (New Scientist article) (National Geographic article) (Science News article) [13] Friedman, M. and Brazeau, M. D.  2008.  Placoderm muscle and chordate interrelationships.  Biology Letters  4: 103. (e-mail for PDF) [12] Friedman, M.  2007c.  Cranial structure in the Devonian lungfish Soederberghia groenlandica and its implications for the interrelationships of 'rhynchodipterids'. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 98: 178-198. [11] Friedman, M.  2007b.  The interrelationships of Devonian lungfishes (Sarcopterygii: Dipnoi) as inferred from neurocranial evidence and new data from the genus Soederberghia Lehman, 1959.  Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 151: 115-171. (e-mail for PDF) (data matrix [MacClade]) [10] Friedman, M.  2007a.  Styloichthys as the oldest coelacanth: Implications for early osteichthyan interrelationships.  Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 5: 289-343. (e-mail for PDF, supplement) (data matrix [NDE])  [9] Friedman, M., Coates, M. I. and Anderson P.  2007.  First discovery of a primitive coelacanth fin fills a major gap in the evolution of lobed fins and limbs. Evolution & Development 9: 329-337. (e-mail for PDF, supplement) (data matrix [NDE]) (supplementary data) (journal cover)     (UC press release) (Carl Zimmer blog entry) (New Scientist article) [8] Blom, H., Clack, J. A., Ahlberg, P. E. and Friedman, M.  2007.  Devonian vertebrates from East Greenland: A review of faunal composition and distribution. Geodiversitas 29: 119-144. (e-mail for PDF) [7] Hurley, I. A., Lockridge Mueller, R., Dunn, K. A., Schmidt, E. J., Friedman, M., Ho, R. K., Prince, V. K., Yang, Z., Thomas, M. G. and Coates, M. I.  2007.  A new time-scale for ray-finned fish evolution.  Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B 274: 489-498. (e-mail for PDF, supplement) (data matrix [MacClade]) (journal cover) [6] Friedman, M. and Blom, H.  2006.  A new actinopterygian from the Famennian of East Greenland the relationships of Devonian ray-finned fishes.  Journal of Paleontology 80: 1186-1204. (e-mail for PDF, supplement) (data matrix [MacClade]) [5] Friedman, M. and Daeschler, E. B.  2006.  Late Devonian (Famennian) lungfishes from the Catskill Formation of Pennsylvania, USA.  Palaeontology 49: 1167-1183. (e-mail for PDF) [4] Friedman, M. and Coates, M. I.  2006  A newly recognized coelacanth highlights the early morphological diversification of the clade. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B 273: 245-250. (e-mail for PDF, supplement) (data matrix [NDE]) [3] Friedman, M. and Johnson, G. D.  2005.  A new species of Mene (Perciformes: Menidae) from the Paleocene of South America, with notes on paleoenvironment and a brief review of menid fishes.  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25: 770-783. (e-mail for PDF) (journal cover) [2] Ahlberg, P. E., Friedman, M. and Blom, H.  2005.  New light on the earliest known tetrapod jaw.  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25: 720-724. (e-mail for PDF) [1] Friedman, M., Tarduno, J. A. and Brinkman, D. B.  2003  Fossil fishes from the high Canadian Arctic: further paleobiological evidence for extreme climatic warmth during the Late Cretaceous (Turonian-Coniacian). Cretaceous Research 24: 615-632. (e-mail for PDF) popular articles and book reviews [2] Coates, M. I. and Friedman, M.  2005.  Review of Recent Advances in the Origin and Early Radiation of Vertebrates, Arratia et al., eds. The Palaeontological Association Newsletter 58: 82-85. (e-mail for PDF) [1] Friedman, M. and Coates, M. I.  2005. The last word on a lost world? (Review of The Dinosauria, Second Edition, Weishampel et al., eds) Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20: 425-426. (e-mail for PDF)

CV

EDUCATION

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Complete CV (pdf)