Donald DAVESNE

Research

I’m a palaeobiologist and systematist mainly interested in the assembly of modern vertebrate biodiversity, the reconstruction of phylogenies (evolutionary trees) and the evolution of morphological traits in deep time. My research focuses on teleosts, a group of ray-finned fishes representing half of extant vertebrates.

During my PhD at the MNHN (2012-2015), I investigated the phylogeny and early evolution of acanthomorph teleosts (spiny-rayed fishes), using a combination of morphological, palaeontological and molecular evidence.

Later, at the University of Oxford (2016-2019), I studied the link between genotype and phenotype and its role in evolutionary diversification, in the specific case of the teleost whole-genome duplication. Using an innovative approach combining cutting-edge 3D histology and phylogenetic methods on a sample of Mesozoic fossils and extant representatives, I was able to precisely constraint this genomic event in time and in the evolutionary tree.

Recently, I’ve been focusing on bone structure and histology in teleost fishes. An understudied model for bone biology, teleosts offer fascinating insight into the evolution and function of bone cellular, structural and physiological traits. My project at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, funded by the Humboldt Fellowship (2021-2023), aimed at investigating and comparing bone miscrostructure and histology in a wide range of fossil and extant teleosts to establish models linking those to ecology and thermal physiology.
 

Complete list of publications

All my first-authored publications are either published open-access, or freely accessible on the open-access repository HAL

Peer-reviewed journals

1. Davesne D., Carnevale G. (2025): An enigmatic teleost fish from the Eocene of Bolca (Italy) with unusual larval‐like features. Papers in Palaeontology, 11(3): e70017. [Open-access publication]
2. Davesne D., Andrews J.V., Beckett H.T., Giles S., Friedman M. (2024): Three-dimensional anatomy of the early Eocene Whitephippus (Teleostei, Lampriformes) documents parallel conquests of the pelagic environment by multiple teleost lineages. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 43(3): e2284998. [Publication] [Open-access link]
3. Johanson Z., Liston J., Davesne D., Challands T., Smith M. (2022): Mechanisms of dermal bone repair after predatory attack in the giant stem-group teleost Leedsichthys problematicus Smith Woodward, 1889 (Pachycormiformes). Journal of Anatomy, 241(2): 393-406. [Publication] [Open-access link]
4. Davesne D., Friedman M., Schmitt A.D., Fernandez V., Carnevale G., Ahlberg P.E., Sanchez S., Benson R.B.J. (2021): Fossilized cell structures identify an ancient origin for the teleost whole-genome duplication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(30): e2101780118. [Publication] [Open-access link]
5. Haridy Y., Osenberg M., Hilger A., Manke I., Davesne D., Witzmann F. (2021): Bone metabolism and evolutionary origin of osteocytes; novel application of FIB-SEM tomography. Science Advances, 7: eabb9113. [Open-access publication]
6. Argyriou T., Davesne D. (2021): Offshore marine actinopterygian assemblages from the Maastrichtian–Paleogene of the Pindos Unit in Eurytania, Greece. PeerJ, 9: e10676. [Open-access publication]
7. Klug C., Davesne D., Fuchs D., Argyriou T. (2020): First record of non-mineralized cephalopod jaws and arm hooks from the latest Cretaceous of Eurytania, Greece. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, 139: 9. [Open-access publication]
8. Davesne D., Schmitt A.D., Fernandez V., Benson R.B.J., Sanchez S. (2020): Three-dimensional characterization of osteocyte volumes at multiple scales, and its relationship with bone biology and genome evolution in ray-finned fishes. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 33(6): 808-830. [Publication] [Open-access link]
9. Legendre L.J., Davesne D. (2020): The evolution of mechanisms involved in vertebrate endothermy. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375(1793): 20190136. [Publication] [Open-access link]
10. Davesne D., Meunier F.J., Schmitt A.D., Friedman M., Otero O., Benson R.B.J. (2019): The phylogenetic origin and evolution of acellular bone in teleost fishes: insights into osteocyte function in bone metabolism. Biological Reviews, 94(4): 1338-1363. [Publication] [Open-access link]
11. Davesne D., Meunier F.J., Friedman M., Benson R.B.J., Otero O. (2018): Histology of the endothermic opah (Lampris sp.) suggests a new structure-function relationship in teleost fish bone. Biology Letters, 14(6): 20180270. [Publication] [Open-access link]
12. Davesne D., Gueriau P., Dutheil D.B., Bertrand L. (2018): Exceptional preservation of a Cretaceous intestine provides a glimpse of the early ecological diversity of spiny-rayed fishes (Acanthomorpha, Teleostei). Scientific Reports, 8: 8509. [Open-access publication]
13. Davesne D. (2017): A fossil unicorn crestfish (Teleostei, Lampridiformes, Lophotidae) from the Eocene of Iran. PeerJ, 5: e3381. [Open-access publication]
14. Davesne D., Carnevale G., Friedman M. (2017): Bajaichthys elegans from the Eocene of Bolca and the overlooked anatomical diversity of Zeiformes (Teleostei, Acanthomorpha). Palaeontology, 60(2): 255-268. [Publication] [Open-access link]
15. Davesne D., Gallut C., Barriel V., Janvier P., Lecointre G., Otero O. (2016): The phylogenetic intrarelationships of spiny-rayed fishes (Acanthomorpha, Teleostei, Actinopterygii): fossil taxa increase the congruence of morphology with molecular data. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 4: 129. [Open-access publication]
16. Delbarre D.J., Davesne D., Friedman M. (2016): Anatomy and relationships of †Aipichthys pretiosus and †‘Aipichthys’ nuchalis (Acanthomorpha: Lampridomorpha), early Late Cretaceous relatives of oarfishes and their allies. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 14(7): 545-567. [Publication][Open-access link]
17. Davesne D., Mondéjar Fernández J., Hairapetian V., Rücklin M., Wendt J., Clément G. (2015): A new large tetrapodomorph sarcopterygian from the Late Devonian of Iran. Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 89(3): 661-667. [Publication] [Open-access link]
18. Davesne D., Friedman M., Barriel V., Lecointre G., Janvier P., Gallut C., Otero O. (2014): Early fossils illuminate character evolution and interrelationships of Lampridiformes (Teleostei, Acanthomorpha). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 172(2): 475-498. [Publication] [Open-access link]

Book chapters

1. Houssaye A., Davesne D., Canoville A. (2021): A methodological renaissance to advance perennial issues in vertebrate paleohistology. Vertebrate Skeletal Histology and Paleohistology, eds. V. de Buffrénil, A. de Ricqlès, L. Zylberberg, K. Padian, CRC Press, pp. 793-798. [Book chapter] [Open-access link]

Other publications

1. Davesne D., Lecointre G. (2015): La phylogénie des téléostéens : un chantier des méthodes en systématique. Biosystema, 30: 13-32. [Open-access link]