February 2 2018: international seminar PALEVOPRIM n°2
Speaker
Bert Van Bocxlaer
UMR Évolution-Écologie-Paléontologie (CNRS & Université de Lille)
Topic
Diversification in Darwin’s dreamponds: a comparative perspective on organismal evolution in the African Great Lakes.
The East African Great Lakes (EAGL) are collectively the earth’s most remarkable and species-rich freshwater feature. Intrinsic biological factors and extrinsic ecological opportunities allowed much of the lakes’ spectacular biodiversity to evolve through evolutionary (often adaptive) radiation and explosive speciation. The clearest testimony of this evolutionary success in terms of morphological and behavioral disparity as well as species richness is presented by cichlid fishes. However, various aquatic invertebrates likewise diversified markedly in the EAGL and here I highlight aspects of this invertebrate biodiversity, notably of mollusks. Considerable extant diversity and rich archives of wellpreserved, identifiable fossils present an exceptional opportunity to study the evolutionary patterns and processes that have contributed to invertebrate evolution in the EAGL.
