JAWesome: Pupfish hatchling tissue-specific transcriptomics
The goal of this study is to identify novel differentially expressed genes contributing to the divergent craniofacial morphologies observed in larval San Salvador Island's pupfishes at hatching. We perform comparative transcriptomic analyses between specialized pupfish populations endemic to San Salvador Island and closely related outgroup pupfish species from North America. The San Salvador Island pupfishes exhibit remarkable trophic specialization and rapid craniofacial evolution, positioning them as ideal models for uncovering genetic mechanisms underlying craniofacial developmental variation relevant to human clinical phenotypes.