Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026
Covergent Evolution and Analogous Organs
Multiple convergent events created a nominal widespread species: Triplophysa stoliczkae (Steindachner, 1866)
Chenguang Feng1,2,3, Yongtao Tang1,3, Sijia Liu1,3
1Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, and Laboratory of Plateau Fish Evolutionary and Functional Genomics, and Qinghai Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 23 Xinning Road, Xining, 810008, Qinghai, China.
Background:
Triplophysa stoliczkae is the most widespread species in the genus Triplophysa and may have originated from morphological convergence. To understand the evolutionary history of T. stoliczkae, we employed a multilocus approach to investigate the phylogenetics and the morphological evolution of T. stoliczkae on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
Results:
All phylogenetic analyses (two mitochondrial and five nuclear loci), a genealogical sorting index and species tree inferences suggested that T. stoliczkae consists of distinct lineages that were not closest relatives. The time estimation indicated that the divergence events between "T. stoliczkae" and other Triplophysa species occurred from approximately 0.10 to 4.51 Ma. The ancestral state analyses supported the independent evolution of T. stoliczkae morphology in distinct lineages. The morphometric analysis and convergence estimates demonstrated significant phenotypic convergence among "T. stoliczkae" lineages.
Conclusions:
Triplophysa stoliczkae includes 4 different lineages with similar morphologies. The increasingly harsh environments that have occurred since the Pliocene have driven the occurrences of scrape-feeding fish in the genus Triplophysa. Morphological adaptations associated with scrape-feeding behavior resulted in convergences and the artificial lumping of four different species in the nominal taxon T. stoliczkae. A taxonomic revision for T. stoliczkae is needed.
Related Concept Videos
01:54Convergent Evolution
10:22Nozzle Analysis: Variations in Mach Number and Pressure Along a Converging and a Converging-diverging Nozzle
A nozzle is a device that is commonly used to accelerate or decelerate flow by virtue of its varying cross-section. Nozzles are widely used in aerospace propulsion systems. In rockets, propellant that is ejected from the chamber is accelerated through a nozzle to create a reaction force that propels the system. In jet engines, a nozzle is used to transform energy from a high-pressure...
01:25Transformers with Off-Nominal Turns Ratios
08:08Creating a Winogradsky Column: A Method to Enrich the Microbial Species in a Sediment Sample
1 Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College, 1 Campus Road, Staten Island NY, 10301
The Winogradsky column is a miniature, enclosed ecosystem used for enriching sediment microbial communities, especially those involved in sulfur cycling. The column was first used by Sergei Winogradsky in the 1880s and has since been applied in the study of many diverse microorganisms involved in biogeochemistry, such as photosynthesizers,...
01:12Sign Test for Nominal Data
For example, consider a...
00:56Nominal Level of Measurement
The data that cannot be measured but can be grouped into categories fall under the nominal level of measurement. Data that is measured using a nominal...