Guest: Alice Clement (PhD student), Australian National University & Museum Victoria.
Alice told us about the Gogo lungfish, specifically a new one called Rhinodipterus that she is researching as part of her PhD project.
Alice writes:
I am not quite halfway through my PhD yet so am still shaping what my project will become but have been working on “An investigation into Devonian dipnoans with insights from Neoceratodus forsteri, the Australian lungfish”. My work thus far has been focussed on the fossil material, looking at various Australian Devonian specimens.
Certain sections (chapters?) could be described as:
1. A new genus of holodontid lungfish (Xeradipterus hatcheri) and some functional morphology of the Gogo Holodontidae.
2. Postcranial anatomy of two Middle Devonian lungfish from Mt. Howitt – an example of a lacustrine speciation.
3. Rhinodipterus: A new species of an air-breathing lungfish from Gogo with a 3D investigation of the cranium.
I then intend to tie in my fossil research with the extant Neoceratodus by comparing and contrasting (esp. braincase) anatomy and development using high powered tomography facilities at ANU. This offers the opportunity to describe external and internal braincase morphology of a fossil lungfish (Rhinodipterus) in unprecedented detail, including bone histology.
I also intend to conduct a large-scale phylogenetic analysis of the Palaeozoic Dipnoi using all new data (characters/taxa etc) examined during the course of my study.
More live music on EAGG: A choir, Living Out Loud, sang live in the studio.
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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090809.mp3
