Editing Cichlid (section)

=== Fossil record ===
[[File:Warilochromis skeleton.png|thumb|''[[Warilochromis]]'', a fossil cichlid from the [[Miocene]] of Kenya]]
The fossil record of cichlids is comprehensive, although it only starts in the [[Eocene]], well after the family is thought to have undergone significant evolutionary diversification. Fossil cichlids appear in both South America and Africa at roughly the same time in the Eocene, with fossil cichlids known from the [[Early Eocene]] (48.6&nbsp;[[Million years ago|mya]])-aged [[Lumbrera Formation]] of [[Argentina]],<ref name="M14">{{cite journal |last1=Malabarba |first1=Maria C. |last2=Malabarba |first2=Luiz R. |last3=López-Fernández |first3=Hernán |year=2014 |title=On the Eocene cichlids from the Lumbrera Formation: additions and implications for the Neotropical ichthyofauna |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=49–58 |bibcode=2014JVPal..34...49M |doi=10.1080/02724634.2013.830021}}</ref> as well as the Middle Eocene (46 mya)-aged [[Mahenge Formation]] of [[Tanzania]],<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Murray |first=Alison M. |date=2001-01-19 |title=Eocene cichlid fishes from Tanzania, East Africa |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020%5B0651:ECFFTE%5D2.0.CO;2 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=651–664 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0651:ECFFTE]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}</ref> suggesting that the divergence between Old and New World cichlids must have occurred prior to this point.

Several African fossil sites that contain cichlids (including the Eocene-aged Mahenge Formation of Tanzania and the Miocene-aged [[Ngorora Formation]] of Kenya)<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Penk |first1=Stefanie B. R. |last2=Altner |first2=Melanie |last3=F. Cerwenka |first3=Alexander |last4=Schliewen |first4=Ulrich K. |last5=Reichenbacher |first5=Bettina |date=2019-07-15 |title=New fossil cichlid from the middle Miocene of East Africa revealed as oldest known member of the Oreochromini |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=10198 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-46392-5 |pmid=31308387 |pmc=6629881 |bibcode=2019NatSR...910198P |issn=2045-2322}}</ref> appear to represent former [[Maar|maars]] or [[Rift lake|rift lakes]], and the fossil cichlids present in them appear to represent [[Species flock|species flocks]] akin to those in the modern [[Rift Valley lakes|African rift lakes]]. This suggests that rapid diversification within enclosed ecosystems is a longstanding trait of cichlids.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />

Fossil remains also suggest that cichlids ranged further north in the geologic past, with the extinct [[tilapia]] ''[[Oreochromis lorenzoi]]'' being known from the [[Late Miocene]] of Italy.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Carnevale |first1=Giorgio |last2=Sorbini |first2=Chiara |last3=Landini |first3=Walter |date=2003-09-12 |title=Oreochromis lorenzoi, a new species of tilapiine cichlid from the late Miocene of central Italy |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/1858 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=508–516 |doi=10.1671/1858 |bibcode=2003JVPal..23..508C |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}</ref>