Phylogenetics of the Lake Tanganyika Cichlid Species Flock

9615178坦噶尼喀湖是非洲最古老的裂谷湖，其形态、行为和生态在地质短时间内发生了前所未有的多样性。坦噶尼喀湖的慈鲷在外部形状和颜色、繁殖系统、亲代照顾模式和营养特化方面表现出复杂的差异，这在其他地方是没有的。坦噶尼喀湖在东非的地理历史上也占有举足轻重的地位，它无疑是其他非洲裂谷湖物种祖先的生物储藏库。这项由阿克塞尔·迈耶博士进行的研究将使用来自两个不同的线粒体编码基因和三个不同的核编码基因的核苷酸序列来调查坦噶尼喀湖12个部落（代表50属170种）的鲷鱼的谱系关系。这些DNA序列将用于生成分子支架，为这些鱼类特征的形态、行为和生态特化的起源和多样化提供关键问题的答案。这些问题的答案对理解东非慈鲷鱼群具有重要意义，并且在一般意义上，对适应性辐射和生物学理论的理解具有重要意义。

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.