The development and evolution of the pelvic girdle in basal gnathostomes

The evolution of the pelvis of land vertebrates was one of the most dramatic structural changes that has occurred during transition of fish onto the land and yet it is perhaps the least understood, mainly due to the paucity of fossil material. Thus the ability to undertake a comparative approach in living fish species positioned strategically in the vertebrate phylogenetic tree is the only mechanism available to bridge our lack of knowledge in a critical aspect of an important evolutionary transition.