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Science 23 August 1996:
Vol. 273. no. 5278, pp. 1091 - 1093
DOI: 10.1126/science.273.5278.1091
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Reports

Late Pleistocene Desiccation of Lake Victoria and Rapid Evolution of Cichlid Fishes

Thomas C. Johnson, * Christopher A. Scholz, Michael R. Talbot, Kerry Kelts, R. D. Ricketts, Gideon Ngobi, Kristina Beuning, Immacculate Ssemmanda, J. W. McGill

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and harbors more than 300 endemic species of haplochromine cichlid fish. Seismic reflection profiles and piston cores show that the lake not only was at a low stand but dried up completely during the Late Pleistocene, before 12,400 carbon-14 years before the present. These results imply that the rate of speciation of cichlid fish in this tropical lake has been extremely rapid.

T. C. Johnson and R. D. Ricketts, Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812, USA.
C. A. Scholz, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149, USA.
M. R. Talbot, Geological Institute, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway.
K. Kelts, G. Ngobi, K. Beuning, Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
I. Ssemmanda, Department of Geology, Makerere University, Post Office Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
J. W. McGill, Embangweni Hospital, Post Office Box 7, Embangweni, Malawi.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Facies Architecture of Flexural Margin Lowstand Delta Deposits in Lake Edward, East African Rift: Constraints from Seismic Reflection Imaging.
M. M. McGlue, C. A. Scholz, T. Karp, B. Ongodia, and K. E. Lezzar (2006)
Journal of Sedimentary Research 76, 942-958
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nuclear Gene Variation and Molecular Dating of the Cichlid Species Flock of Lake Malawi.
Y.-J. Won, Y. Wang, A. Sivasundar, J. Raincrow, and J. Hey (2006)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 23, 828-837
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Test of Founder Effect Speciation Using Multiple Loci in the Auklets (Aethia spp.).
H. E. Walsh, I. L. Jones, and V. L. Friesen (2005)
Genetics 171, 1885-1894
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
cimp1, A Novel Astacin Family Metalloproteinase Gene from East African Cichlids, Is Differentially Expressed Between Species During Growth.
T. Kijimoto, M. Watanabe, K. Fujimura, M. Nakazawa, Y. Murakami, S. Kuratani, Y. Kohara, T. Gojobori, and N. Okada (2005)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 22, 1649-1660
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From The Cover: Rapid evolutionary radiation of marine zooplankton in peripheral environments.
M. N Dawson and W. M. Hamner (2005)
PNAS 102, 9235-9240
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comment on "Origin of the Superflock of Cichlid Fishes from Lake Victoria, East Africa".
J. C. Stager, J. J. Day, and S. Santini (2004)
Science 304, 963b
   Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "Origin of the Superflock of Cichlid Fishes from Lake Victoria, East Africa".
E. Verheyen, W. Salzburger, J. Snoeks, and A. Meyer (2004)
Science 304, 963c
   Full Text »    PDF »
Origin of the Superflock of Cichlid Fishes from Lake Victoria, East Africa.
E. Verheyen, W. Salzburger, J. Snoeks, and A. Meyer (2003)
Science 300, 325-329
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The effect of selection on a long wavelength-sensitive (LWS) opsin gene of Lake Victoria cichlid fishes.
Y. Terai, W. E. Mayer, J. Klein, H. Tichy, and N. Okada (2002)
PNAS 99, 15501-15506
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Natural Selection of the Rhodopsin Gene During the Adaptive Radiation of East African Great Lakes Cichlid Fishes.
T. Sugawara, Y. Terai, and N. Okada (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 1807-1811
   Full Text »    PDF »
The Evolution of the Pro-Domain of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (Bmp4) in an Explosively Speciated Lineage of East African Cichlid Fishes.
Y. Terai, N. Morikawa, and N. Okada (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 1628-1632
   Full Text »    PDF »
Reassessment of Lake Victoria-Upper Nile River paleohydrology from oxygen isotope records of lake-sediment cellulose.
(2002)
Geology 30, 559-562
What, if Anything, is a Tilapia?--Mitochondrial ND2 Phylogeny of Tilapiines and the Evolution of Parental Care Systems in the African Cichlid Fishes.
V. Klett and A. Meyer (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 865-883
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Accelerated Evolution of the Surface Amino Acids in the WD-Repeat Domain Encoded by the hagoromo Gene in an Explosively Speciated Lineage of East African Cichlid Fishes.
Y. Terai, N. Morikawa, K. Kawakami, and N. Okada (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 574-578
   Full Text »    PDF »
Color patterns and species recognition in four closely related species of Lake Malawi cichlid.
V. C. K. Couldridge and G. J. Alexander (2002)
Behav. Ecol. 13, 59-64
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Strontium isotope evidence for late Pleistocene reestablishment of an integrated Nile drainage network.
(2000)
Geology 28, 343-346
Phylogeny of Darwin's finches as revealed by mtDNA sequences.
A. Sato, C. O'hUigin, F. Figueroa, P. R. Grant, B. R. Grant, H. Tichy, and J. Klein (1999)
PNAS 96, 5101-5106
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cichlid Fish Diversity Threatened by Eutrophication That Curbs Sexual Selection.
O. Seehausen, J. J. Alphen, and F. Witte (1997)
Science 277, 1808-1811
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Abrupt Early to Mid-Holocene Climatic Transition Registered at the Equator and the Poles.
J. C. Stager and P. A. Mayewski (1997)
Science 276, 1834-1836
   Abstract »    Full Text »


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