Diet shapes rapid intestinal cell evolution across Tanganyika's cichlids

A comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic study of 24 Tanganyikan cichlid species shows that diet-driven diversification largely reconfigures the anterior intestinal epithelium, with shifts in anterior enterocyte abundances and cell-type–specific gene expression governed by fast-evolving, cell-population–specific genes—demonstrating that ecological adaptation operates at both cellular composition and molecular levels in the gut.