The ricefishes of Sulawesi have evolved a special type of brood care – pelvic brooding. Only a few gene loci determine the associated morphological traits, and the body of the fish is modular. An international team of researchers led by the LIB found that these two factors might have facilitated the evolution of the complex reproductive strategy of pelvic brooding. Because of the modularity of the body, the pelvic fin and the ribs in the mid-body region were able to adapt to pelvic brooding independently of other body parts. The results were recently published in the journal “Evolution”.