Possible Involvement of Ghost Introgressions in the Striking Diversity of Vomeronasal Type 1 Receptor Genes in East African Cichlids.

Cichlids that have undergone adaptive radiation are genetically close but exhibit extreme ecological and morphological diversity, making them useful for understanding speciation mechanisms. Vomeronasal type 1 receptors (V1R) are highly conserved among teleost fish at the amino acid sequence level and are believed to play a fundamental role in reproduction. We previously reported the surprisingly high sequence diversity of V1Rs among certain cichlid species, suggesting a possible role for V1Rs in their speciation.