To the best of my knowledge this is the first empirical evidence that endemic Great Lakes fish diversity formed cyclically, through glacial advances and retreats, rather than all occurring after the Last Glacial Maximum. This fauna might be older than previously thought (e.g, >80,000 years divergence time for Great Lakes Coregonus species).

We sequenced genomes of Coregonus species (ciscoes) and Salvelinus (lake charr) morphs and present a new reference genome for Coregonus artedi. Historical demography analyses present a timeline of diversification and population expansion relative to glacial cycles.