Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026

Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton
Published on: May 7, 2016
Ancient origin and recent divergence of a haplochromine cichlid lineage from isolated water bodies in the East
C M Hermann1, K M Sefc, S Koblmüller
1Department of Zoology, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, A-8010 Graz, Austria.
Abstract:
Phylogenetic analysis identified haplochromine cichlids from isolated water bodies in the eastern branch of the East African Rift system as an ancient lineage separated from their western sister group in the course of the South Kenyan-North Tanzanian rift system formation. Within this lineage, the close phylogenetic relatedness among taxa indicates a recent common ancestry and historical connections between now separated water bodies. In connection with a total lack of local genetic diversity attributable to population bottlenecks, the data suggest cycles of extinction and colonization in the unstable habitat provided by the small lakes and rivers in this geologically highly active area.
Related Concept Videos
Formation of Species
Hybrid Zones
What is Evolutionary History?
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Eukaryotic Evolution
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...
The Evidence for Evolution

