1
|
Nascimento JCS, Blanco F, Domingo MS, Cantalapiedra JL, Pires MM. The reorganization of predator-prey networks over 20 million years explains extinction patterns of mammalian carnivores. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14448. [PMID: 38814285 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Linking the species interactions occurring at the scale of local communities to their potential impact at evolutionary timescales is challenging. Here, we used the high-resolution fossil record of mammals from the Iberian Peninsula to reconstruct a timeseries of trophic networks spanning more than 20 million years and asked whether predator-prey interactions affected regional extinction patterns. We found that, despite small changes in species richness, trophic networks showed long-term trends, gradually losing interactions and becoming sparser towards the present. This restructuring of the ecological networks was driven by the loss of medium-sized herbivores, which reduced prey availability for predators. The decrease in prey availability was associated with predator longevity, such that predators with less available prey had greater extinction risk. These results not only reveal long-term trends in network structure but suggest that prey species richness in ecological communities may shape large scale patterns of extinction and persistence among predators.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- João C S Nascimento
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Fernando Blanco
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany
| | - M Soledad Domingo
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan L Cantalapiedra
- Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany
- Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
- GloCEE Global Change Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mathias M Pires
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Dillon EM, Dunne EM, Womack TM, Kouvari M, Larina E, Claytor JR, Ivkić A, Juhn M, Carmona PSM, Robson SV, Saha A, Villafaña JA, Zill ME. Challenges and directions in analytical paleobiology. PALEOBIOLOGY 2023; 49:377-393. [PMID: 37809321 PMCID: PMC7615171 DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Over the last 50 years, access to new data and analytical tools has expanded the study of analytical paleobiology, contributing to innovative analyses of biodiversity dynamics over Earth's history. Despite-or even spurred by-this growing availability of resources, analytical paleobiology faces deep-rooted obstacles that stem from the need for more equitable access to data and best practices to guide analyses of the fossil record. Recent progress has been accelerated by a collective push toward more collaborative, interdisciplinary, and open science, especially by early-career researchers. Here, we survey four challenges facing analytical paleobiology from an early-career perspective: (1) accounting for biases when interpreting the fossil record; (2) integrating fossil and modern biodiversity data; (3) building data science skills; and (4) increasing data accessibility and equity. We discuss recent efforts to address each challenge, highlight persisting barriers, and identify tools that have advanced analytical work. Given the inherent linkages between these challenges, we encourage discourse across disciplines to find common solutions. We also affirm the need for systemic changes that reevaluate how we conduct and share paleobiological research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erin M. Dillon
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, U.S.A.; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama
| | - Emma M. Dunne
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany; School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Tom M. Womack
- School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Miranta Kouvari
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
| | - Ekaterina Larina
- Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, U.S.A
| | - Jordan Ray Claytor
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A; Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A
| | - Angelina Ivkić
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2,1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Juhn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, U.S.A
| | - Pablo S. Milla Carmona
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina; Instituto de Estudios Andinos “Don Pablo Groeber” (IDEAN, UBA-CONICET), Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Selina Viktor Robson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Anwesha Saha
- Institute of Palaeobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland; Laboratory of Paleogenetics and Conservation Genetics, Centre of New Technologies (CeNT), University of Warsaw, S. Banacha 2c, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jaime A. Villafaña
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Bernardo O ‘Higgins, Santiago 8370993, Chile
| | - Michelle E. Zill
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, U.S.A
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Henderson S, Dunne EM, Fasey SA, Giles S. The early diversification of ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii): hypotheses, challenges and future prospects. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:284-315. [PMID: 36192821 PMCID: PMC10091770 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Revised: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Actinopterygii makes up half of living vertebrate diversity, and study of fossil members during their Palaeozoic rise to dominance has a long history of descriptive work. Although research interest into Palaeozoic actinopterygians has increased in recent years, broader patterns of diversity and diversity dynamics remain critically understudied. Past studies have investigated macroevolutionary trends in Palaeozoic actinopterygians in a piecemeal fashion, variably using existing compendia of vertebrates or literature-based searches. Here, we present a comprehensive occurrence-based dataset of actinopterygians spanning the whole of the Palaeozoic. We use this to produce the first through-Palaeozoic trends in genus and species counts for Actinopterygii. Diversity through time generally tracks metrics for sampling, while major taxonomic problems pervading the Palaeozoic actinopterygian record obscure diversity trends. Many described species are concentrated in several particularly problematic 'waste-basket' genera, hiding considerable morphological and taxonomic diversity. This taxonomic confusion also feeds into a limited understanding of phylogenetic relationships. A heavy sampling bias towards Europe and North America exists in both occurrence databases and available phylogenetic matrices, with other regions underrepresented despite yielding important data. Scrutiny of the extent to which spatial biases influence the actinopterygian record is lacking, as is research on other forms of bias. Low richness in some time periods may be linked to geological biases, while the effects of taphonomic biases on Palaeozoic actinopterygians have not yet been investigated. Efforts are already underway both to redescribe poorly defined taxa and to describe taxa from underrepresented regions, helping to address taxonomic issues and accuracy of occurrence data. New methods of sampling standardisation utilising up-to-date occurrence databases will be critical in teasing apart biological changes in diversity and those resulting from bias. Lastly, continued phylogenetic work will enable the use of phylogenetic comparative methods to elucidate the origins of actinopterygian biogeography and subsequent patterns of radiation throughout their rise to dominate aquatic faunas.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Struan Henderson
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Emma M Dunne
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.,GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Loewenichstraße 28, Erlangen, 91054, Germany
| | - Sophie A Fasey
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Sam Giles
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.,Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Macaluso L, Mannion PD, Evans SE, Carnevale G, Monti S, Marchitelli D, Delfino M. Biogeographic history of Palearctic caudates revealed by a critical appraisal of their fossil record quality and spatio-temporal distribution. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220935. [PMID: 36465678 PMCID: PMC9709575 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The disjunct geographical range of many lineages of caudates points to a complex evolutionary and biogeographic history that cannot be disentangled by only considering the present-day distribution of salamander biodiversity. Here, we provide a critical reappraisal of the published fossil record of caudates from the Palearctic and quantitatively evaluate the quality of the group's fossil record. Stem-Urodela and Karauridae were widespread in the Palearctic in the Middle Jurassic, suggesting an earlier, unsampled diversification for this group. Cryptobranchidae reached Europe no later than the Oligocene, but this clade was subsequently extirpated from this continent, as well as from western and central Asia. The relatively recent appearance of hynobiids in the fossil record (Early Miocene) is most likely an artefact of a taphonomic bias against the preservation of high-mountain, stream-type environments which early members likely inhabited. Salamandroids first appear in Europe, expanding into Asia by the Miocene. The apparently enigmatic and disjunct distribution of extant caudate lineages is therefore explained by a wider past geographical range, as testified by the fossil record, which was fragmented during the late Cenozoic by a combination of tectonic (i.e. the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau) and climatic drivers, resulting in regional extirpations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Loredana Macaluso
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Turin, Italy
| | - Philip D. Mannion
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, WC1E 6BT London, UK
| | - Susan E. Evans
- Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, WC1E 6BT London, UK
| | - Giorgio Carnevale
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Turin, Italy
| | - Sara Monti
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Turin, Italy
| | - Domenico Marchitelli
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Turin, Italy
| | - Massimo Delfino
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Turin, Italy
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTAICP, c/ Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Short-term paleogeographic reorganizations and climate events shaped diversification of North American freshwater gastropods over deep time. Sci Rep 2022; 12:15572. [PMID: 36114216 PMCID: PMC9481594 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19759-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
What controls species diversity and diversification is one of the major questions in evolutionary biology and paleontology. Previous studies have addressed this issue based on various plant and animal groups, geographic regions, and time intervals. However, as most previous research focused on terrestrial or marine ecosystems, our understanding of the controls on diversification of biota (and particularly invertebrates) in freshwater environments in deep time is still limited. Here, we infer diversification rates of North American freshwater gastropods from the Late Triassic to the Pleistocene and explore potential links between shifts in speciation and extinction and major changes in paleogeography, climate, and biotic interactions. We found that variation in the speciation rate is best explained by changes in continental fragmentation, with rate shifts coinciding with major paleogeographic reorganizations in the Mesozoic, in particular the retreat of the Sundance Sea and subsequent development of the Bighorn wetland and the advance of the Western Interior Seaway. Climatic events in the Cenozoic (Middle Eocene Climate Optimum, Miocene Climate Optimum) variably coincide with shifts in speciation and extinction as well, but no significant long-term association could be detected. Similarly, no influence of diversity dependence was found across the entire time frame of ~ 214 Myr. Our results indicate that short-term climatic events and paleogeographic changes are relevant to the diversification of continental freshwater biota, while long-term trends have limited effect.
Collapse
|
6
|
Mas-Peinado P, García-París M, Ruiz JL, Buckley D. The Strait of Gibraltar is an ineffective palaeogeographic barrier for some flightless darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Pimelia). Zool J Linn Soc 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The geographic distribution of a species is shaped by its biology and by environmental and palaeogeographic factors that interact at different spatial-temporal scales, which leads to distributions and diversification patterns observed between and within lineages. The darkling beetle genus Pimelia has been diversifying for more than 31.2 Mya showing different colonization patterns after the opening of the Gibraltar Strait 5 Mya. Three of the 14 subgenera of Pimelia have populations on both sides of the Strait. Through extensive sampling and the analysis of three molecular markers, we determine levels of intra- and interspecific genetic variation, identify evolutionary lineages in subgenera, estimate their temporal origin and distribution ranges and discuss the historical basis for the geographic and diversification patterns of Pimelia around the Strait. This single geographical feature acted both as a barrier and as a dispersal route for different Pimelia species. The Strait has represented a strong barrier for the subgenus Magrebmelia since the Middle Miocene. However, the subgenera Amblyptera and Amblypteraca share repetitive signatures of post-Messinian colonization across the Strait, possibly driven by stochastic or ‘catastrophic’ events such as tsunamis. Our demographic analyses support Wallace’s hypothesis on insect dispersal stochasticity. Some taxonomic changes, including the designation of a lectotype for Pimelia maura, are also proposed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paloma Mas-Peinado
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), c/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006-Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, c/ Darwin 2, 28049-Madrid, Spain
| | - Mario García-París
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), c/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006-Madrid, Spain
| | - José L Ruiz
- Instituto de Estudios Ceutíes, Paseo del Revellín 30, 51001-Ceuta, Spain
| | - David Buckley
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), c/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006-Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, c/ Darwin 2, 28049-Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Biología (Genética), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), c/ Darwin 2, 28049-Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Benson RBJ, Butler R, Close RA, Saupe E, Rabosky DL. Biodiversity across space and time in the fossil record. Curr Biol 2021; 31:R1225-R1236. [PMID: 34637736 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The fossil record is the primary source of information on how biodiversity has varied in deep time, providing unique insight on the long-term dynamics of diversification and their drivers. However, interpretations of fossil record diversity patterns have been much debated, with a traditional focus on global diversity through time. Problems arise because the fossil record is spatially and temporally patchy, so 'global' diversity estimates actually represent the summed diversity across a set of geographically and environmentally distinct regions that vary substantially in number and identity through time. Furthermore, a focus on global diversity lumps the signal of ecological drivers at local and regional scales with the signal of global-scale processes, including variation in the distribution of environments and in provincialism (the extent of subdivision into distinct biogeographic regions). These signals cannot be untangled by studying global diversity measures alone. These conceptual and empirical concerns necessitate a shift away from the study of 'biodiversity through time' and towards the study of 'biodiversity across time and space'. Spatially explicit investigations, including analyses of local- and regional-scale datasets, are central to achieving this and allow analysis of geographic scale, location and the environmental parameters directly experienced by organisms. So far, research in this area has revealed the stability of species richness variation among environments through time, and the potential climatic and Earth-system drivers of changing biodiversity. Ultimately, this research program promises to address key questions regarding the assembly of biodiversity, and the contributions of local-, regional- and global-scale processes to the diversification of life on Earth.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK.
| | - Richard Butler
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Roger A Close
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Erin Saupe
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Daniel L Rabosky
- Museum of Zoology and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Maidment SCR, Dean CD, Mansergh RI, Butler RJ. Deep-time biodiversity patterns and the dinosaurian fossil record of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior, North America. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210692. [PMID: 34157868 PMCID: PMC8220268 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In order for palaeontological data to be informative to ecologists seeking to understand the causes of today's diversity patterns, palaeontologists must demonstrate that actual biodiversity patterns are preserved in our reconstructions of past ecosystems. During the Late Cretaceous, North America was divided into two landmasses, Laramidia and Appalachia. Previous work has suggested strong faunal provinciality on Laramidia at this time, but these arguments are almost entirely qualitative. We quantitatively investigated faunal provinciality in ceratopsid and hadrosaurid dinosaurs using a biogeographic network approach and investigated sampling biases by examining correlations between dinosaur occurrences and collections. We carried out a model-fitting approach using generalized least-squares regression to investigate the sources of sampling bias we identified. We find that while the raw data strongly support faunal provinciality, this result is driven by sampling bias. The data quality of ceratopsids and hadrosaurids is currently too poor to enable fair tests of provincialism, even in this intensively sampled region, which probably represents the best-known Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. To accurately reconstruct biodiversity patterns in deep time, future work should focus on smaller scale, higher resolution case studies in which the effects of sampling bias can be better controlled.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Susannah C R Maidment
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.,School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Christopher D Dean
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Robert I Mansergh
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.,Department of Earth Sciences, 5 Gower Place, London WC1E 6BS, UK
| | - Richard J Butler
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Weppe R, Orliac MJ, Guinot G, Condamine FL. Evolutionary drivers, morphological evolution and diversity dynamics of a surviving mammal clade: cainotherioids at the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210173. [PMID: 34074121 PMCID: PMC8170207 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) represents a period of global environmental changes particularly marked in Europe and coincides with a dramatic biotic turnover. Here, using an exceptional fossil preservation, we document and analyse the diversity dynamics of a mammal clade, Cainotherioidea (Artiodactyla), that survived the EOT and radiated rapidly immediately after. We infer their diversification history from Quercy Konzentrat-Lagerstätte (south-west France) at the species level using Bayesian birth-death models. We show that cainotherioid diversity fluctuated through time, with extinction events at the EOT and in the late Oligocene, and a major speciation burst in the early Oligocene. The latter is in line with our finding that cainotherioids had a high morphological adaptability following environmental changes throughout the EOT, which probably played a key role in the survival and evolutionary success of this clade in the aftermath. Speciation is positively associated with temperature and continental fragmentation in a time-continuous way, while extinction seems to synchronize with environmental change in a punctuated way. Within-clade interactions negatively affected the cainotherioid diversification, while inter-clade competition might explain their final decline during the late Oligocene. Our results provide a detailed dynamic picture of the evolutionary history of a mammal clade in a context of global change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R. Weppe
- Institut des Sciences de l’évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - M. J. Orliac
- Institut des Sciences de l’évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - G. Guinot
- Institut des Sciences de l’évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - F. L. Condamine
- Institut des Sciences de l’évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Blanco F, Calatayud J, Martín-Perea DM, Domingo MS, Menéndez I, Müller J, Fernández MH, Cantalapiedra JL. Punctuated ecological equilibrium in mammal communities over evolutionary time scales. Science 2021; 372:300-303. [PMID: 33859037 DOI: 10.1126/science.abd5110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The study of deep-time ecological dynamics has the ability to inform conservation decisions by anticipating the behavior of ecosystems millions of years into the future. Using network analysis and an exceptional fossil dataset spanning the past 21 million years, we show that mammalian ecological assemblages undergo long periods of functional stasis, notwithstanding high taxonomic volatility due to dispersal, speciation, and extinction. Higher functional richness and diversity promoted the persistence of functional faunas despite species extinction risk being indistinguishable among these different faunas. These findings, and the large mismatch between functional and taxonomic successions, indicate that although safeguarding functional diversity may or may not minimize species losses, it would certainly enhance the persistence of ecosystem functioning in the face of future disturbances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Blanco
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, an der Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Joaquín Calatayud
- Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Calle Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - David M Martín-Perea
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Nováis 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain.,Instituto de Evolución Humana en África IDEA, Calle Covarrubias 26, 28010 Madrid, Spain
| | - M Soledad Domingo
- Departamento de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales, Ciencias Sociales y Matemáticas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), C/Rector Royo Villanova s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Iris Menéndez
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Nováis 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Cambio Medioambiental, Instituto de Geociencias (UCM, CSIC), C/ Severo Ochoa 7, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Johannes Müller
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, an der Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Manuel Hernández Fernández
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Nováis 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Cambio Medioambiental, Instituto de Geociencias (UCM, CSIC), C/ Severo Ochoa 7, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan L Cantalapiedra
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, GloCEE Global Change Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Universidad de Alcalá, Plaza de San Diego s/n, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Affiliation(s)
- Peter D Roopnarine
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
| | - Roxanne M W Banker
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Close RA, Benson RBJ, Alroy J, Carrano MT, Cleary TJ, Dunne EM, Mannion PD, Uhen MD, Butler RJ. The apparent exponential radiation of Phanerozoic land vertebrates is an artefact of spatial sampling biases. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200372. [PMID: 32259471 PMCID: PMC7209054 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
There is no consensus about how terrestrial biodiversity was assembled through deep time, and in particular whether it has risen exponentially over the Phanerozoic. Using a database of 60 859 fossil occurrences, we show that the spatial extent of the worldwide terrestrial tetrapod fossil record itself expands exponentially through the Phanerozoic. Changes in spatial sampling explain up to 67% of the change in known fossil species counts, and these changes are decoupled from variation in habitable land area that existed through time. Spatial sampling therefore represents a real and profound sampling bias that cannot be explained as redundancy. To address this bias, we estimate terrestrial tetrapod diversity for palaeogeographical regions of approximately equal size. We find that regional-scale diversity was constrained over timespans of tens to hundreds of millions of years, and similar patterns are recovered for major subgroups, such as dinosaurs, mammals and squamates. Although the Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction catalysed an abrupt two- to three-fold increase in regional diversity 66 million years ago, no further increases occurred, and recent levels of regional diversity do not exceed those of the Palaeogene. These results parallel those recovered in analyses of local community-level richness. Taken together, our findings strongly contradict past studies that suggested unbounded diversity increases at local and regional scales over the last 100 million years.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roger A Close
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - John Alroy
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Matthew T Carrano
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - Terri J Cleary
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Emma M Dunne
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Philip D Mannion
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Mark D Uhen
- Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
| | - Richard J Butler
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Diversity dynamics of Phanerozoic terrestrial tetrapods at the local-community scale. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:590-597. [PMID: 30778186 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0811-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The fossil record provides one of the strongest tests of the hypothesis that diversity within local communities is constrained over geological timescales. Constraints to diversity are particularly controversial in modern terrestrial ecosystems, yet long-term patterns are poorly understood. Here we document patterns of local richness in Phanerozoic terrestrial tetrapods using a global data set comprising 145,332 taxon occurrences from 27,531 collections. We show that the local richness of non-flying terrestrial tetrapods has risen asymptotically since their initial colonization of land, increasing at most threefold over the last 300 million years. Statistical comparisons support phase-shift models, with most increases in local richness occurring: (1) during the colonization of land by vertebrates, concluding by the late Carboniferous; and (2) across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. Individual groups, such as mammals, lepidosaurs and dinosaurs also experienced early increases followed by periods of stasis often lasting tens of millions of years. Mammal local richness abruptly tripled across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, but did not increase over the next 66 million years. These patterns are consistent with the hypothesis that diversity is constrained at the local-community scale.
Collapse
|