Erosion of heterogeneous rock drives diversification of Appalachian fishes

Authors: Maya F. Stokes, Daemin Kim, Sean F. Gallen, Edgar Benavides, Benjamin P. Keck, Julia Wood, Samuel L. Goldberg, Isaac J. Larsen, Jon Michael Mollish, Jeffrey W. Simmons, Thomas J. Near, J. Taylor Perron

Published: 2023-05-25

DOI: 10.1126/science.add9791

Source: Full article


Abstract

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 (