The role of behaviour in the adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika.

行为在坦噶尼喀湖慈鲷适应性辐射中的作用。

• 批准号: 409306777
• 负责人: Dr. Carolin Sommer-Trembo
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Evolutionsbiologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Fellowships
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2017-12-31 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/409306777?language=en
• 关键词: role; behaviour; adaptive; radiation; cichlid

The unravelling of the complex process of speciation and the identification of factors that determine species diversity remains one of the most important and challenging endeavors in biology. To study groups of organisms that are characterized by an exceptionally high species-richness could be key to the understanding of how organismal diversity is generated and maintained. The cichlid fishes in the African Great Lakes, which are in the focus of this proposal, represent the largest vertebrate adaptive radiations known today, with hundreds of endemic species having evolved with unparalleled high speciation rates. The aim of the proposed project is to investigate the role of inter-specific variation in basic behavioural patterns in the context of the massive adaptive radiation of cichlids in Lake Tanganyika. More specifically, I intend to assess consistent behavioural traits, with a particular focus on the exploration tendency, of a large number of cichlid species (comprising species-rich and species-poor lineages) and to integrate this behavioural data with available whole-genome and brain transcriptome sequences as well as with existing eco-morphological information of the respective species. This thorough approach builds up on the host lab’s expertise with the study system and the resources that have been established there as well as on my own experience in the study of consistent behavioural traits in freshwater fishes. This project will provide first in-depth insights into how behaviour contributes to the species’ propensity to diversify.

揭示物种形成的复杂过程和确定决定物种多样性的因素仍然是生物学中最重要和最具挑战性的努力之一。研究具有极高物种丰富度特征的生物群体可能是理解生物多样性如何产生和维持的关键。非洲五大湖的慈鲷是本提案的重点，它们代表了目前已知的最大的脊椎动物适应性辐射，数以百计的特有物种以前所未有的高物种形成率进化。拟议项目的目的是调查坦噶尼喀湖大规模适应性辐射背景下，基本行为模式的种间变异的作用。更具体地说，我打算评估一致的行为特征，特别关注大量的鱼种（包括物种丰富和物种贫乏的谱系）的探索趋势，并将这些行为数据与现有的全基因组和脑转录组序列以及各自物种的现有生态形态学信息相结合。这种彻底的方法建立在东道国实验室对研究系统的专业知识和已经建立的资源以及我自己在研究淡水鱼一致行为特征方面的经验之上。该项目将首次深入了解行为如何促进物种多样化的倾向。