Phylogenetics of the Lake Tanganyika Cichlid Species Flock

小行星9615178 坦噶尼喀湖的慈鲷鱼，最古老的非洲裂谷湖，代表了一个范例的形态，行为和生态的前所未有的多样性，发生在一个地质短的时间。 坦噶尼喀湖慈鲷显示在外部形状和着色，繁殖系统，父母的照顾模式和营养专业化，是没有发现其他地方的差异的复杂性。 坦噶尼喀湖在东非的地理历史上也是至关重要的，毫无疑问，它是非洲其他裂谷湖物种祖先的生物库。 阿克塞尔迈耶博士进行的这项研究将采用两种不同的核苷酸序列，来自两种不同的基因编码基因和三种不同的核编码基因，以调查坦噶尼喀湖慈鲷科12个部落（代表50属170种）之间的系谱关系。 这些DNA序列将被用来产生一个分子支架，将提供答案的关键问题的起源和多样化的形态，行为和生态专业化的特点，这些鱼类。 这些问题的答案有影响，东非慈鲷鱼组合的理解，并在一般意义上说，适应性辐射和生物学理论的理解。

9615178 MEYER Cichlid fishes of Lake Tanganyika, the oldest of the great African rift lakes, represent a paradigm example of unprecedented diversity in morphology, behavior, and ecology that occurred over a geologically-short period of time. Lake Tanganyika cichlids display a complexity of differences in external shape and coloration, breeding systems, parental care patterns, and trophic specializations that are not found elsewhere. Lake Tanganyika also is pivotal in the geographic history of eastern Africa, and undoubtedly served as the bio-reservoir from which ancestors to species in other African rift lake were derived. The research to be carried out by Dr. Axel Meyer will employ nucleotide sequences from two different, mitochondrially-encoded genes and from three different, nuclear-encoded genes to investigate genealogical relationships among the twelve tribes (representing 170 species in 50 genera) of cichlids in Lake Tanganyika. These DNA sequences will be used to generate a molecular scaffold that will provide answers to critical questions regarding the origin and diversification of the morphological, behavioral, and ecological specializations that characterize these fishes. Answers to these questions have implications to the understanding of east African cichlids fish assemblages, and in a general sense, to understanding of adaptive radiation and biological theory.