Lance Grande is Curator of Fossil Fishes. His research uses comparative anatomy of both fossil and living fishes to discover evolutionary relationships and historical biogeography. Lance studies the comparative osteology and ontogeny in fossil and living fishes, with a particular emphasis on the ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). Some of the groups he has studied include the Siluriformes (catfishes), Clupemorpha (herring and herring-like fishes), Osteoglossomorpha (bony-tongues) and other more primitive actinopterygian groups such as sturgeons, paddlefishes, amiiforms, gars and polypterids. Recent research also addresses different types of intraspecific morphological variation (e.g., ontogenetic vs. non-ontogenetic) and its effects on phylogenetic reconstruction, problems regarding inclusion of fossils in phylogenetic studies and historical biogeography.
