Citation
A Pharyngeal Jaw Evolutionary Innovation Facilitated Extinction in Lake Victoria Cichlids
TL;DR
Pharyngeal jaws enable independent specialization
Examines how the cichlid pharyngeal jaw innovation - a second set of jaws in the throat allowing independent specialization of oral and pharyngeal jaw functions - both enabled radiation (by increasing evolvability) and contributed to extinction vulnerability.
Provides key evidence for how modularity (decoupling of traits) enhances evolvability and enables rapid adaptive radiation.
Key Findings from McGee & al. (2015)
- Pharyngeal jaws enable independent specialization
- Innovation increased evolvability, enabling radiation
- Same innovation contributed to extinction vulnerability