The three Great East African Lakes are important model systems for evolutionary research. Among other things the massive adaptive radiations of cichlid fish are of interest. The so-called species flock consisting of several hundred endemic cichlid species, which occurs in the region of Lake Victoria, was derived from a single founder population and therefore has a monophyletic origin. It is uncertain, however, when and where this adaptive radiation took place and how the lake was populated. Previous studies were not able to give sufficient answers. Especially, when one considers a recent geological study which suggests the complete desiccation of Lake Victoria about 18.000 to 12 400 years ago. Therefore a characterization of the phylogeography of populations of cichlids of waters nearby was carried out in the present study. Most of these waters were firstly examined in this context. Mitochondrial DNA (D-Loop) of 70 cichlids from the region was sequenced and analyzed, together with unpublished sequences from Lake Kivu and sequences from previous studies. In this way a new picture of the history of Lake Victoria´s cichlid species flock could be drawn. The classification of the cichlids from the different waters could be resolved doubtlessly, whereas interpretation of the data rises new questions. The phylogeographic analyses suggest, that the genetic prerequisites for the adaptive radiation did not necessarily arise in Lake Victoria itself, but possibly in another deep body of water like Lake Kivu. A big founder population could have populated Lake Victoria less than 12.400 years ago. Following that, the special conditions within the lake made possible the astonishingly fast radiation of several hundred species
