On the origin of Lake Malawi cichlid species: a population genetic analysis of divergence.

ABSTRACT: The cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi are famously diverse. However, phylogenetic and population genetic studies of their history have been difficult because of the great amount of genetic variation that is shared between species. We apply a recently developed method for fitting the "isolation with migration" divergence model to a data set of specially designed compound loci to develop portraits of cichlid species divergence. Outgroup sequences from a cichlid from Lake Tanganyika permit model parameter estimates in units of years and effective population sizes. Estimated speciation times range from 1,000 to 17,000 years for species in the genus Tropheops. These exceptionally recent dates suggest that Malawi cichlids as a group experience a very active and dynamic diversification process. Curre

SUBMITTER: Won YJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1131877 | biostudies-literature | 2005 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature