All of the fish pictured here are in the family Mormyridae and can produce and sense electric fields. In the top group of fish (subfamily Mormyrinae), electric discharges have evolved quickly, resulting in dramatically different pulses of electricity among closely related species. In the bottom group of fish (subfamily Petrocephalinae), all of the species have similar pulses. The difference arises because the top group has the anatomical features needed to exploit the signal space, such as the anatomy needed to make different pulses and the sensory and analytical ability to perceive small differences in pulse shape.
Category: 2011 paper in Science
Can You Feel Me Now? (Links to an external site)
While studying the distinctive patterns of discharges from African electrical fish, Carlson et al. (p. 583) discovered that the evolution of key sensory processing regions in the brain allowed for rapid diversification in one group but was minimal in a closely related group that had diverged prior to the evolution of the sensory innovations.
Electric Fish’s Better Brain Linked to Biodiversity Boost (Links to an external site)
Among mormyrid fish, conversation is literally buzzing. Using specialized electricity-emitting organs in their tails, these African natives string together short shocks into a primitive analog to Morse code, says study coauthor Bruce Carlson, a neuroecologist at Washington University in St. Louis.
Humans Are On The Verge Of Evolving Into Another Species (Links to an external site)
A scientist who studies the small, silver elephantfish may have stumbled on the key to speciation, the process that allows one species to evolve into two or more. And it’s all about developing new sensory perceptions.
Jump in communication skills led to species explosion in electric fishes (Links to an external site)
The Mormyridae, a family of African fishes that communicate by means of weak electric discharges, has more than 200 species. New work shows the fishes evolved a complex signal-processing brain before a burst of speciation. Together with other evidence the finding suggests brain evolution triggered diversification.
Jump in communication skills led to species explosion in electric fishes (Links to an external site)
The sensory pathway that detects and analyzes the electric discharges in the Mormyridae had been well studied, but only in two or three species, Carlson says, and the family has more than 200. Given its diversity Carlson asked whether changes in electrical communication might have influenced rates of speciation.
Jump In Communication Skills Led To Species Explosion In Electric Fishes (Links to an external site)
Carlson, PhD, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, is studying the African family of weakly electric fishes called the Mormyridae, or mormyrids.
Each fish in this family has an electric signal distinctive to its species, but also, to its sex, dominance status and even its individual identity.
Jump in communication skills led to species explosion in electric fishes (Links to an external site)
Bruce Carlson stands next to a fish tank in his lab, holding a putty colored Radio Shack amplifier connected to two wires whose insulation has been stripped. At the bottom of the tank a nondescript little fish lurks in a sawed-off section of PVC pipe.
In African rivers, an electric Tower of Babel (Links to an external site)
The rivers and lakes of Africa are filled with conversations that you cannot hear or take part in. These chats are conducted by fishes called mormyrids or elephantfishes, which can produce and sense electric fields.
Spark in fish brain electrified evolution (Links to an external site)
Bigger brain regions caused a ‘big bang’ in the evolution of African electric fish, new research has shown.
Jump in communication skills led to species explosion among electric fishes: A novel way to ramp up biodiversity (Links to an external site)
Carlson, PhD, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, is studying the African family of weakly electric fishes called the Mormyridae, or mormyrids.