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The role of ecological opportunity and phenotypic plasticity in adaptive divergence in East African cichlid fishes
Third-party funded project
Project title The role of ecological opportunity and phenotypic plasticity in adaptive divergence in East African cichlid fishes
Principal Investigator(s) Salzburger, Walter
Organisation / Research unit Departement Umweltwissenschaften / Evolutionary Biology (Salzburger)
Project Website www.salzburgerlab.org
Project start 01.10.2014
Probable end 30.09.2017
Status Completed
Abstract

Understanding the patterns and processes that govern the evolution of organismal diversity remains a fundamental challenge of biology. We are still struggling with the question why some groups of organisms have diversified in a seemingly explosive manner, while others have lingered unvaried over millions of years. Likewise, we have difficulties with the identification of the external factors and environmental conditions that promote diversification. And we are only beginning to obtain insights into the genomic basis of adaptation and diversification. Replicate adaptive radiations in island-like settings - such as the Caribbean anoles lizards, Hawaiian spiders, stickleback fish in temperate waters, and cichlid fishes in the Great Lakes of East Africa - serve as important model systems to address these and related questions. Here, we examine - in detail - the early phases of adaptive divergence in East African cichlids, making use of replicate lake-stream population pairs in three haplochromine cichlid species in the area of Lake Tanganyika. To this end, we use a combination of RAD and whole genome sequencing, geometric morphometric analyses, ecological, physiological and immunological assessment as well as mate choice experiments.

Financed by Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
   

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29/03/2024