Finally, we took advantage of extensive genomic data already generated by the Salzburger group to link activity and sleep phenotypes to genomic loci - intriguingly, they were not enriched for clock genes as hypothesised, but synaptic genes, and genes associated with neurological diseases in humans!

We hypothesise that these activity patterns represent a novel axis upon which these species diversified, leading to multiple temporal versions of each eco-morphological niche, and facilitating their rapid adaptive diversification!

Some, like the algivorous O. boops, sleep 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟮 𝗵𝗿𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆, whereas others, like the mud hole dwelling L. signatus, 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟱 𝗵𝗿𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆!

(above video) we tracked hundreds of individual fish in the lab across 6 days and 6 nights from 60 species of cichlids from Lake Tanganyika - and discovered that they exhibit all known activity patterns (diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular, and cathemeral)...

Now published @natecoevo.nature.com with @annika-nichols.bsky.social, our latest on the evolution of 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 across 𝟲𝟬 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 of cichlid fishes! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social

My lab was hard at work while I was gone

Dude with a net unable to catch escaped Kangaroo, saying, "I'm just a dude with a net"