Morphological Diversity in African Cichlid Fish
Author Information
Author(s): Young Kyle A., Snoeks Jos, Seehausen Ole
Primary Institution: University of Bern
Hypothesis
How do deterministic evolution, phylogenetic contingency, and chance influence morphological diversification in African cichlid radiations?
Conclusion
The study shows that despite evidence of non-convergence in a common morphospace, the cichlid assemblages are diversifying in parallel through the global morphospace.
Supporting Evidence
- The cichlid assemblages from the three lakes show consistent evidence of non-convergence.
- Morphological diversity accumulates continually and is unrelated to species richness.
- Head and jaw shape diversity accumulates faster than body shape diversity.
Takeaway
This study looks at how different types of evolution affect the shapes of fish in African lakes, showing that even if they look different in one way, they can still be changing in similar ways overall.
Methodology
The study used geometric morphometric analysis on 375 specimens from three African great lakes to compare morphological diversity.
Potential Biases
Potential biases may arise from sampling methods and the historical context of the cichlid populations.
Limitations
The study does not control for phylogenetic independence due to the lack of species-level phylogenies for some assemblages.
Participant Demographics
The study focuses on endemic cichlid fish from Lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.0001
Confidence Interval
99.99%
Statistical Significance
p<0.0001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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