--Bruce Stallsmith
Huntsville, AL
>Bruce,
>
>Thanks for the information on Lake Victoria. I had no idea the lake was so
>different from the other large lakes in Africa. I knew that the cichlids
>had radiated out in those lakes into all different kinds of species, but I
>didn't know about the species flock that you mentioned in Lake Victoria,
>especially that it came from one ancestral species. It take it that the
>genetic plasticity (if there is such a term) must be very high in cichlids.
>From what little I know about genetics I understand that some species are
>capable of more genetic variation than others, and can thus evolve into
>other forms more quickly when the conditions are favorable.
>
>Do you know much hybridization takes place within the species flock in Lake
>Victoria and whether or not those hybrids are themselves fertile? I blows
>me away that so many species can appear in so short a time. I mean we're
>almost talking within historical times that all of this species radiation
>occurred.
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