The evolution and genetic basis of a functionally critical skull bone, the parasphenoid, among Lake Malawi cichlids.

Adaptive radiation, whereby a clade pairs rapid speciation with rapid phenotypic evolution, can result in an uneven distribution of biodiversity across the Metazoan tree. The cichlid fishes of East Africa have undergone multiple adaptive radiations within the major rift lakes. Cichlid radiations are marked by divergence across distinct habitat gradients producing many morphological and behavioural adaptations.