Hyoid barbels as a key innovation triggering goatfish adaptive radiation
Laurent Mittelheiser, Josefin Stiller, Charlotte Koenig, Denis Baurain, Bruno Frédérich
This paper shows that hyoid barbels in goatfishes drove rapid speciation and ecomorphological divergence, meeting criteria for adaptive radiation.
bioRxiv · Sep 10, 2026 · PreprintEvolutionary Biology