Erosion of heterogeneous rock drives diversification of Appalachian fishes

The high levels of biodiversity supported by mountains suggest a possible link between geologic processes and biological evolution. Freshwater biodiversity is high not only in tectonically active settings but also in tectonically quiescent montane regions such as the Appalachian Mountains. We show t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2023-05, Vol.380 (6647), p.855-859
Main Authors: Stokes, Maya F, Kim, Daemin, Gallen, Sean F, Benavides, Edgar, Keck, Benjamin P, Wood, Julia, Goldberg, Samuel L, Larsen, Isaac J, Mollish, Jon Michael, Simmons, Jeffrey W, Near, Thomas J, Perron, J Taylor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biodiversity
Freshwater fish
Metamorphic rocks
Mountains
Perches
Phylogeny
Rivers
Tectonics
Tennessee
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Summary:The high levels of biodiversity supported by mountains suggest a possible link between geologic processes and biological evolution. Freshwater biodiversity is high not only in tectonically active settings but also in tectonically quiescent montane regions such as the Appalachian Mountains. We show that erosion through different rock types drove allopatric divergence between lineages of the Greenfin Darter ( ), a fish species endemic to rivers draining metamorphic rocks in the Tennessee River basin in the United States. In the past, metamorphic rock preferred by was more widespread, but as erosion exposed other rock types, lineages of this species were progressively isolated in tributaries farther upstream, where metamorphic rock remained. Our results suggest a geologic mechanism for initiating allopatric diversification in mountains long after tectonic activity ceases.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.add9791