Pliocene isolation of a north‐west Saharan cichlid fish |
| |
| Authors: | M. J. Genner M. P. Haesler |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, U.K.;2. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, U.K.;3. Division Aquatic Ecology and Macroevolution, Institute of Ecology & Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;4. Department of Fish Ecology & Evolution, Centre of Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry (CEEB), Eawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Seestrasse 79, CH‐6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland |
| |
| Abstract: | The evolutionary origin of the only north‐west Saharan haplochromine cichlid, Astatotilapia desfontainii, was explored using mitochondrial DNA sequences. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that this species belonged to the main East African–Nilotic haplochromine clade, but was a distinct lineage that diverged from modern haplochromines in the Pliocene. The results suggest that A. desfontainii is a relict haplochromine lineage that has endured major climate fluctuations in North Africa. |
| |
| Keywords: | adaptation desertification mitochondrial DNA speciation |
|
|
