The Pseudocrenilabrinae are a subfamily of the cichlids (Cichlidae) to which, with the exception of the Malagasy species, all African cichlids and the few in the Middle East belong. Earlier authors recognized other African subfamilies (Paratilapinae Tawil (2001), Tilapiinae Hoedeman (1947), Tylochrominae Poll (1986), Heterochrominae Kullander (1998), Boulengerochrominae Tawil (2001)).
The following cladogram shows the possible relationship and evolution of the African cichlids. The area of origin is probably West Africa, from where they spread to the east and settled this lake about 12 million years ago after the formation of Lake Tanganyika. From there, individual lines went to the Congo, Malagarasi and Lake Victoria and Lake Malawi . In the last two lakes, a rapid adaptive radiation took place again, producing several hundred species.
IP Farias, G. Orti, A. Meyer: Total Evidence: Molecules, Morphology, and the Phylogenetics of Cichlid Fishes , Journal of Experimental Zoology (Mol Dev Evol) 288: 76-92 (2000) PDF
Julia Schwarzer, Bernhard Miso, Diethard Tautz & Ulrich K Schliewen: The root of the East African cichlid radiations. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2009, 9: 186 doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2148-9-186
Tetsumi Takahashi & Stephan Koblmüller: The Adaptive Radiation of Cichlid Fish in Lake Tanganyika: A Morphological Perspective. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Volume 2011, Article ID 620754, doi : 10.4061 / 2011/620754
Individual evidence
^ Andreas R. Dunz, Ulrich K. Schliewen: Molecular phylogeny and revised classification of the haplotilapiine cichlid fishes formerly referred to as “Tilapia”. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2013.03.015
^ Andreas R. Dunz: Revision of the substrate brooding “Tilapia” (Tilapia Smith, 1840 and related taxa), (Teleostei: Perciformes: Cichlidae). Dissertation to obtain a doctorate from the Faculty of Biology at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, 2012, PDF
^ A b Julia Schwarzer, Anton Lamboj, Kathrin Langen, Bernhard Misof, Ulrich K. Schliewen: Phylogeny and age of chromidotilapiine cichlids (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Hydrobiologia, April 2015, Volume 748, Issue 1, pp 185-199, DOI: 10.1007 / s10750-014-1918-1
↑ Nina Duftner, Stephan Koblmüller, Christian Sturmbauer: Evolutionary Relationships of the Limnochromini, a Tribe of Benthic Deepwater Cichlid Fish Endemic to Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. J Mol Evol (2005) 60: 277-289 DOI: 10.1007 / s00239-004-0017-8
↑ Frederic DB Schedel, Zuzana Musilova and Ulrich Kurt Schliewen (2019): East African cichlid lineages (Teleostei: Cichlidae) might be older than their ancient host lakes: new divergence estimates for the east African cichlid radiation. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19:94. Doi: 10.1186 / s12862-019-1417-0