An extant cichlid fish radiation emerged in an extinct Pleistocene lake

Domino A. Joyce, David H. Lunt, Roger Bills, George F. Turner, Cyprian Katongo, Nina Duftner, Christian Sturmbauer and Ole Seehausen ()
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Domino A. Joyce: The University of Hull
David H. Lunt: The University of Hull
Roger Bills: South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
George F. Turner: The University of Hull
Cyprian Katongo: Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Nina Duftner: Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Christian Sturmbauer: Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Ole Seehausen: The University of Hull

Nature, 2005, vol. 435, issue 7038, 90-95

Abstract: Legacy of a lake Cichlid fish in the African Great Lakes are the most spectacular examples of explosive speciation and ecological diversification known, but these lake radiations are often seen as of little relevance to biodiversity elsewhere. Rivers in most of Africa, on the other hand, have generated very few new species because ecological opportunity in rivers is so limited. Paradoxically, rivers in southwest Africa teem with cichlid species. These river fish are now shown to be the remnants of a species flock that emerged during an adaptive radiation in a large lake in Botswana that dried up 2,000 years ago. Here at least, rapid evolution in a geographically restricted area has provided a window of ecological opportunity that has helped to shape continental biodiversity.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03489

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