Evolution of the Yangtze River and its biodiversity

Phylogeny of Cyprinidae and diversification history of endemic East Asian cyprinids

Documenting the origins of megadiverse (sub)tropical aquatic ecosystems is an important goal for studies of evolution and ecology. Nonetheless, the geological and ecological establishment of the modern Yangtze River remains poorly understood. Here, we reconstruct the geographic and ecological history of an endemic clade of East Asian fishes based on the mitochondrial phylogenomics analysis of Cyprinidae using 15 fossil calibrations. We estimate an ancestral condition of benthic spawning with demersal or adhesive eggs in southern East Asia before ～23 Ma and a derived condition of riverine spawning with semibuoyant eggs in the Yangtze by ～18 Ma.