Morphological Evolution, Adaptations, Homoplasies, Constraints, and Evolutionary Trends: Catfishes as a Case Study on General Phylogeny & Macroevolution

Catfishes : Introduction: Phylogenetic Position within Teleostei Catfish Families Historical Overview of Higher Level Phylogeny of Catfishes Catfish, an Exceptional Biological Group Methodology & Material: Phylogenetic Methodology Delimitation of Terminal Taxa Material, Techniques and Nomenclature Phylogenetic Analysis: Character Description and Comparison Cladistic Analysis, Diagnosis for Clades, and Comparison with Previous Hypotheses Character State Changes for Individual Genera Results of Phylogenetic Analysis: Major Outlines Higher-level Phylogeny and Macroevolution of Catfishes: A Discussion: Structures Associated with Movements of the Mandibular Barbels Pectoral Girdle Complex Adductor Mandibulae Complex Palatine-maxillary System Suspensorium and Associated Structures Elastic Spring Apparatus A Discussion on the Origin and Biogeographic Distribution of Catfishes Catfishes, Case Study for General Discussions of Phylogenetic and Macroevolutionary Topics: Primary Homologies, Secondary Homologies, and a Priori Versus a Posteriori Explanations in Evolutionary Biology Homoplasies, Consistency Index, and Complexity of Macroevolution Functional Uncouplings and Morphological Macroevolution Myological Versus Osteological Characters in Phylogenetic Reconstructions Analysis of Distinct Anatomical Regions in Phylogenetic Reconstructions Aptations, Exaptations and Adaptations in Macroevolutionary Studies Parallelisms, Convergences and Constraints in Macroevolution Cordelia s Dilemma, Historical Bias, and General Evolutionary Trends Punctuated Equilibrium, Speciation, Living Fossils and Macroevolution