A continuous fish fossil record reveals key insights into adaptive radiation

Nare Ngoepe (), Moritz Muschick, Mary A. Kishe, Salome Mwaiko, Yunuén Temoltzin-Loranca, Leighton King, Colin Courtney Mustaphi, Oliver Heiri, Giulia Wienhues, Hendrik Vogel, Maria Cuenca-Cambronero, Willy Tinner, Martin Grosjean, Blake Matthews and Ole Seehausen
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Nare Ngoepe: University of Bern
Moritz Muschick: University of Bern
Mary A. Kishe: Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI)
Salome Mwaiko: Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology
Yunuén Temoltzin-Loranca: University of Bern
Leighton King: University of Bern
Colin Courtney Mustaphi: University of Basel
Oliver Heiri: University of Basel
Giulia Wienhues: Institute of Geography & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern
Hendrik Vogel: Institute of Geological Sciences & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern
Maria Cuenca-Cambronero: Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology
Willy Tinner: University of Bern
Martin Grosjean: Institute of Geography & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern
Blake Matthews: University of Bern
Ole Seehausen: University of Bern

Nature, 2023, vol. 622, issue 7982, 315-320

Abstract: Abstract Adaptive radiations have been instrumental in generating a considerable amount of life’s diversity. Ecological opportunity is thought to be a prerequisite for adaptive radiation1, but little is known about the relative importance of species’ ecological versatility versus effects of arrival order in determining which lineage radiates2. Palaeontological records that could help answer this are scarce. In Lake Victoria, a large adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes evolved in an exceptionally short and recent time interval3. We present a rich continuous fossil record extracted from a series of long sediment cores along an onshore–offshore gradient. We reconstruct the temporal sequence of events in the assembly of the fish community from thousands of tooth fossils. We reveal arrival order, relative abundance and habitat occupation of all major fish lineages in the system. We show that all major taxa arrived simultaneously as soon as the modern lake began to form. There is no evidence of the radiating haplochromine cichlid lineage arriving before others, nor of their numerical dominance upon colonization; therefore, there is no support for ecological priority effects. However, although many taxa colonized the lake early and several became abundant, only cichlids persisted in the new deep and open-water habitats once these emerged. Because these habitat gradients are also known to have played a major role in speciation, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that ecological versatility was key to adaptive radiation, not priority by arrival order nor initial numerical dominance.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06603-6

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