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Meik JM, Watson JA, Schield DR, Perry BW, Francioli Y, Guss H, Mackessy SP, Castoe TA. Climatic temperature and precipitation jointly influence body size in species of western rattlesnakes. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:240345. [PMID: 39113769 PMCID: PMC11303023 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240345] [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: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 07/04/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Both the metabolic theory of ecology and dynamic energy budget theory predict that climate influences body size through its effects on first-order determinants of energetics: reactive temperatures, carbon resources and oxygen availability. Although oxygen is seldom limiting in terrestrial systems, temperature and resources vary spatially. We used redundancy analyses and variation partitioning to evaluate the influence of climatic temperature, precipitation and their seasonalities on multivariate body size across the distributions of four species of the western rattlesnake group in North America (Crotalus pyrrhus, C. scutulatus, C. oreganus and C. viridis). Most species showed a pattern of increased body size in cooler, mesic climates and decreased body size in warmer, xeric climates. Exceptions to the pattern provided additional context through climatic idiosyncrasies in the distributions of each species. For example, the general pattern of a negative influence of temperature on body size was not apparent for C. oreganus, which ranges across the mildest climates overall among the four species. In contrast to previous studies, we found that seasonality had negligible effects on body size. We suggest that precipitation gradients correlate positively with resource availability in driving intraspecific body size and that temperature compounds this gradient by increasing baseline metabolic demands and restricting activity in particularly warm or otherwise extreme climates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse M. Meik
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX, USA
| | - Jessica A. Watson
- Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA
| | - Drew R. Schield
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Blair W. Perry
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Yannick Francioli
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
| | - Hannah Guss
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
| | - Stephen P. Mackessy
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA
| | - Todd A. Castoe
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
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2
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ElShafie SJ. Body size estimation from isolated fossil bones reveals deep time evolutionary trends in North American lizards. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0296318. [PMID: 38180961 PMCID: PMC10769094 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Lizards play vital roles in extant ecosystems. However, their roles in extinct ecosystems are poorly understood because the fossil record of lizards consists mostly of isolated bones. This makes it difficult to document changes in lizard morphology and body size over time, which is essential for studies of lizard paleoecology and evolution. It is also difficult to compare available fossil lizard data with existing sources of extant lizard data because extant studies rarely measure individual bones. Furthermore, no previous study has regressed measurements of individual bones to body length across crown lizard groups, nor tested those regressions on fossil skeletons. An extensive dataset of individual bone measurements from extant lizards across crown taxonomic groups is here employed to develop novel methods for estimating lizard body size from isolated fossil elements. These methods were applied to a comparably large dataset of fossil lizard specimens from the robust Paleogene record (66-23 Ma) of the Western Interior of North America. This study tests the hypothesis that anatomical proportions have been conserved within higher-level crown lizard groups since the Paleogene and can therefore be used to reconstruct snout-vent length (SVL) and mass for fossil specimens referred to the same groups. Individual bones demonstrated strong correlation with SVL in extant as well as fossil lizard specimens (R2 ≥ 0.69). Equations for mass estimation from individual bones were derived from the SVL regressions using published equations for calculating lizard body mass from SVL. The resulting body size estimates from regression equations for the entire fossil dataset revealed that lizards reached greatest maximum body size in the middle Paleogene, with the largest size class dominated by anguid lizards that exceeded 1 meter in SVL and 1.5 kg in body mass. Maximum body size decreased to under 400 mm and below 1.5 kg in the late Paleogene. No association was found between changes in maximum lizard body size and marine isotope proxies of global temperature through the Paleogene. This is the first study to investigate body size evolution across lizard clades over a deep time interval and for a large geographic region. The proposed methods can be used to generate body size regressions and provide estimates of body size for isolated lizard bones referred to any crown group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara J. ElShafie
- Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
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3
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The utility of body size as a functional trait to link the past and present in a diverse reptile clade. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2201948119. [PMID: 36745796 PMCID: PMC9964042 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201948119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the relationships between functional traits and environment is increasingly important for assessing ecosystem health and forecasting biotic responses to future environmental change. Taxon-free analyses of functional traits (ecometrics) allow for testing the performance of such traits through time, utilizing both the fossil record and paleoenvironmental proxies. Here, we test the role of body size as a functional trait with respect to climate, using turtles as a model system. We examine the influence of mass-specific metabolic rate as a functional factor in the sorting of body size with environmental temperature and investigate the utility of community body size composition as an ecometric correlated to climate variables. We then apply our results to the fossil record of the Plio-Pleistocene Shungura Formation in Ethiopia. Results show that turtle body sizes scale with mass-specific metabolic rate for larger taxa, but not for the majority of species, indicating that metabolism is not a primary driver of size. Body size ecometrics have stronger predictive power at continental than at global scales, but without a single, dominant predictive functional relationship. Application of ecometrics to the Shungura fossil record suggests that turtle paleocommunity ecometrics coarsely track independent paleoclimate estimates at local scales. We hypothesize that both human disruption and biotic interactions limit the ecometric fit of size to climate in this clade. Nonetheless, examination of the consistency of trait-environment relationships through deep and shallow time provides a means for testing anthropogenic influences on ecosystems.
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Miranda EBP, Peres CA, Downs CT. Landowner perceptions of livestock predation: implications for persecution of an Amazonian apex predator. Anim Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- E. B. P. Miranda
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity School of Life Sciences University of KwaZulu‐Natal Pietermaritzburg South Africa
| | - C. A. Peres
- School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich UK
- Instituto Juruá Manaus Brazil
| | - C. T. Downs
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity School of Life Sciences University of KwaZulu‐Natal Pietermaritzburg South Africa
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5
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Derome N, Filteau M. A continuously changing selective context on microbial communities associated with fish, from egg to fork. Evol Appl 2020; 13:1298-1319. [PMID: 32684960 PMCID: PMC7359827 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2019] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Fast increase of fish aquaculture production to meet consumer demands is accompanied by important ecological concerns such as disease outbreaks. Meanwhile, food waste is an important concern with fish products since they are highly perishable. Recent aquaculture and fish product microbiology, and more recently, microbiota research, paved the way to a highly integrated approach to understand complex relationships between host fish, product and their associated microbial communities at health/disease and preservation/spoilage frontiers. Microbial manipulation strategies are increasingly validated as promising tools either to replace or to complement traditional veterinary and preservation methods. In this review, we consider evolutionary forces driving fish microbiota assembly, in particular the changes in the selective context along the production chain. We summarize the current knowledge concerning factors governing assembly and dynamics of fish hosts and food microbial communities. Then, we discuss the current microbial community manipulation strategies from an evolutionary standpoint to provide a perspective on the potential for risks, conflict and opportunities. Finally, we conclude that to harness evolutionary forces in the development of sustainable microbiota manipulation applications in the fish industry, an integrated knowledge of the controlling abiotic and especially biotic factors is required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Derome
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS)Université LavalQuébecQCCanada
- Département de BiologieUniversité LavalQuébecQCCanada
| | - Marie Filteau
- Département de BiologieUniversité LavalQuébecQCCanada
- Département des Sciences des alimentsInstitut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF)Université LavalQuébecQCCanada
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6
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Noto CR, Drumheller SK, Adams TL, Turner AH. An Enigmatic Small Neosuchian Crocodyliform from the Woodbine Formation of Texas. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2019; 303:801-812. [PMID: 31173481 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 11/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
New discoveries at the Arlington Archosaur Site (AAS), a Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) locality in north-central Texas, are filling gaps in our knowledge of mid-Cretaceous Appalachian ecosystems, which remain poorly characterized. The AAS is notable because it preserves a diverse crocodyliform record. As seen in other sites that preserve four or more crocodyliform taxa, the species present at the AAS exhibit different snout shapes and body sizes, indicating that this high diversity of sympatric species was likely sustainable due to niche partitioning. Here we describe Scolomastax sahlsteini gen. et sp. nov., a new species of crocodyliform from the AAS, currently known from a partial right mandibular ramus. This species differs from other crocodyliforms in possessing features associated with durophagy or omnivory, including a shortened mandible, reduced tooth count, heterodonty, a dorsally expanded surangular, and enlarged attachments for jaw adductor muscles. Our phylogenetic analysis places this new taxon within Eusuchia as a member of Paralligatoridae and sister taxon to Paralligator gradilifrons. Scolomastax sahlsteini extends the record of paralligatorids into the Late Cretaceous of North America. This discovery represents the first appearance of this clade on the poorly known landmass of Appalachia, supporting a biogeographic connection between North America and Asia in the Early Cretaceous prior to completion of the Western Interior Seaway. However, relationships among other endemic crocodyliforms and tree instability within Paralligatoridae suggest further analysis is needed to resolve phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships (http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DC114471-6687-4BB5-8FAE-96F7278B1DAF). Anat Rec, 303:801-812, 2020. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R Noto
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wisconsin
| | - Stephanie K Drumheller
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee
| | | | - Alan H Turner
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
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7
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Gordon IJ, Prins HHT, Mallon J, Puk LD, Miranda EBP, Starling-Manne C, van der Wal R, Moore B, Foley W, Lush L, Maestri R, Matsuda I, Clauss M. The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing in Other Vertebrate Taxa. THE ECOLOGY OF BROWSING AND GRAZING II 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-25865-8_15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
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8
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Rohr JR, Civitello DJ, Cohen JM, Roznik EA, Sinervo B, Dell AI. The complex drivers of thermal acclimation and breadth in ectotherms. Ecol Lett 2018; 21:1425-1439. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Revised: 03/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jason R. Rohr
- Department of Integrative Biology University of South Florida Tampa FL 33620 USA
| | - David J. Civitello
- Department of Integrative Biology University of South Florida Tampa FL 33620 USA
- Department of Biology Emory University Atlanta GA 30322 USA
| | - Jeremy M. Cohen
- Department of Integrative Biology University of South Florida Tampa FL 33620 USA
| | - Elizabeth A. Roznik
- Department of Integrative Biology University of South Florida Tampa FL 33620 USA
- Department of Research and Conservation Memphis Zoo Memphis TN 38112 USA
| | - Barry Sinervo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California at Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA 95064 USA
| | - Anthony I. Dell
- National Great Rivers Research and Education Centre (NGRREC) Alton ILUSA
- Department of Biology Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO USA
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9
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Miranda EBP. Reintroducing apex predators: the perils of muddling guilds and taxocenoses. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:180567. [PMID: 30109104 PMCID: PMC6083722 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Everton B. P. Miranda
- ONF Brasil Gestão Florestal, Cotriguaçu, MT, Brazil
- Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Alta Floresta, MT, Brazil
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10
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11
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Płachetka-Bożek A, Augustyniak M. Evaluation of Candidate Reference Genes for Quantitative Gene Expression Analysis in Spodoptera exigu a after Long-time Exposure to Cadmium. Sci Rep 2017; 7:8338. [PMID: 28827560 PMCID: PMC5567104 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08630-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies on the transcriptional control of gene expression play an important role in many areas of biology. Reference genes, which are often referred to as housekeeping genes, such as GAPDH, G3PDH, EF2, RpL7A, RpL10, TUBα and Actin, have traditionally been assumed to be stably expressed in all conditions, and they are frequently used to normalize mRNA levels between different samples in qPCR analysis. However, it is known that the expression of these genes is influenced by numerous factors, such as experimental conditions. The difference in gene expression underlies a range of biological processes, including development, reproduction and behavior. The aim of this study was to show the problems associated with using reference genes in the qPCR technique, in a study on inbred strains of Spodoptera exigua selected toward cadmium resistance. We present and discuss our results and observations, and give some recommendations concerning the use and limitations of housekeeping genes as internal standards, especially in research on insects. Our results suggest that holometabolism and poikilothermia, as well as time since metamorphosis and the level of exposure to the selective factor (cadmium in this case), have a significant effect on the expression of reference genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Płachetka-Bożek
- Department of Animal Physiology and Ecotoxicology, University of Silesia in Katowice, Bankowa 9, PL 40-007, Katowice, Poland.
| | - Maria Augustyniak
- Department of Animal Physiology and Ecotoxicology, University of Silesia in Katowice, Bankowa 9, PL 40-007, Katowice, Poland
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12
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Miranda EBP, Ribeiro‐Jr RP, Camera BF, Barros M, Draque J, Micucci P, Waller T, Strüssmann C. Penny and penny laid up will be many: large Yellow anacondas do not disregard small prey. J Zool (1987) 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- E. B. P. Miranda
- Laboratório de Herpetologia Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) Cuiabá Mato Grosso Brazil
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade UFMT Cuiabá Mato Grosso Brazil
- IUCN/SSC Boa and Python Specialist Group Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - R. P. Ribeiro‐Jr
- Laboratório de Herpetologia Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) Cuiabá Mato Grosso Brazil
| | - B. F. Camera
- Laboratório de Herpetologia Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) Cuiabá Mato Grosso Brazil
| | - M. Barros
- IUCN/SSC Boa and Python Specialist Group Buenos Aires Argentina
- Fundación Biodiversidad Argentina Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - J. Draque
- IUCN/SSC Boa and Python Specialist Group Buenos Aires Argentina
- Fundación Biodiversidad Argentina Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - P. Micucci
- IUCN/SSC Boa and Python Specialist Group Buenos Aires Argentina
- Fundación Biodiversidad Argentina Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - T. Waller
- IUCN/SSC Boa and Python Specialist Group Buenos Aires Argentina
- Fundación Biodiversidad Argentina Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - C. Strüssmann
- Laboratório de Herpetologia Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) Cuiabá Mato Grosso Brazil
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade UFMT Cuiabá Mato Grosso Brazil
- IUCN/SSC Boa and Python Specialist Group Buenos Aires Argentina
- Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária UFMT Cuiabá Mato Grosso Brazil
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13
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Bai Y, Dong JJ, Guan DL, Xie JY, Xu SQ. Geographic variation in wing size and shape of the grasshopper Trilophidia annulata (Orthoptera: Oedipodidae): morphological trait variations follow an ecogeographical rule. Sci Rep 2016; 6:32680. [PMID: 27597437 PMCID: PMC5011697 DOI: 10.1038/srep32680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
A quantitative analysis of wing variation in grasshoppers can help us to understand how environmental heterogeneity affects the phenotypic patterns of insects. In this study, geometric morphometric methods were used to measure the differences in wing shape and size of Trilophidia annulata among 39 geographical populations in China, and a regression analysis was applied to identify the major environmental factors contributing to the observed morphological variations. The results showed that the size of the forewing and hindwing were significantly different among populations; the shape of the forewing among populations can be divided into geographical groups, however hindwing shape are geographical overlapped, and populations cannot be divided into geographical groups. Environmental PCA and thin-plate spline analysis suggested that smaller individuals with shorter and blunter-tip forewings were mainly distributed in the lower latitudes and mountainous areas, where they have higher temperatures and more precipitation. Correspondingly, the larger-bodied grasshoppers, those that have longer forewings with a longer radial sector, are distributed in contrary circumstances. We conclude that the size variations in body, forewing and hindwing of T. annulata apparently follow the Bergmann clines. The importance of climatic variables in influencing morphological variation among populations, forewing shape of T. annulata varies along an environmental gradient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Bai
- Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China.,School of Life Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 317000, P.R. China
| | - Jia-Jia Dong
- Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China
| | - De-Long Guan
- Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China
| | - Juan-Ying Xie
- School of Computer Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China
| | - Sheng-Quan Xu
- Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China
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14
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Polly PD, Lawing AM, Eronen JT, Schnitzler J. Processes of ecometric patterning: modelling functional traits, environments, and clade dynamics in deep time. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- P. David Polly
- Departments of Geological Sciences, Biology and Anthropology; Indiana University; 1001 E. 10th Street Bloomington IN 47405 USA
| | - A. Michelle Lawing
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management; Spatial Sciences Laboratory; Texas A&M University; 1500 Research Parkway Suite 223 B 2120 TAMU College Station TX 77843-2120 USA
| | - Jussi T. Eronen
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F); Senckenberganlage 25 D-60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Jan Schnitzler
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F); Senckenberganlage 25 D-60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
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15
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Aureliano T, Ghilardi AM, Guilherme E, Souza-Filho JP, Cavalcanti M, Riff D. Morphometry, bite-force, and paleobiology of the late miocene caiman Purussaurus brasiliensis. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0117944. [PMID: 25689140 PMCID: PMC4331287 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2014] [Accepted: 01/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Purussaurus brasiliensis thrived in the northwestern portion of South America during the Late Miocene. Although substantial material has been recovered since its early discovery, this fossil crocodilian can still be considered as very poorly understood. In the present work, we used regression equations based on modern crocodilians to present novel details about the morphometry, bite-force and paleobiology of this species. According to our results, an adult Purussaurus brasiliensis was estimated to reach around 12.5 m in length, weighing around 8.4 metric tons, with a mean daily food intake of 40.6 kg. It was capable of generating sustained bite forces of 69,000 N (around 7 metric tons-force). The extreme size and strength reached by this animal seems to have allowed it to include a wide range of prey in its diet, making it a top predator in its ecosystem. As an adult, it would have preyed upon large to very large vertebrates, and, being unmatched by any other carnivore, it avoided competition. The evolution of a large body size granted P. brasiliensis many advantages, but it may also have led to its vulnerability. The constantly changing environment on a large geological scale may have reduced its long-term survival, favoring smaller species more resilient to ecological shifts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tito Aureliano
- Departamento de Geologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, CEP 50740-530, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Aline M. Ghilardi
- Departamento de Geologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CEP 21949-900, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Edson Guilherme
- Laboratório de Pesquisas Paleontológicas, Universidade Federal do Acre, CEP 69915-900, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil
| | - Jonas P. Souza-Filho
- Laboratório de Pesquisas Paleontológicas, Universidade Federal do Acre, CEP 69915-900, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil
| | - Mauro Cavalcanti
- Ecoinformatics Studio, P. O. Box 46521, CEP 20551-970, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Douglas Riff
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, CEP 38400-902, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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16
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Age and Body Size in Populations of Two Syntopic Spadefoot Toads (GenusPelobates) at the Limit of Their Ranges. J HERPETOL 2014. [DOI: 10.1670/13-101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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17
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Uyeda JC, Harmon LJ. A novel Bayesian method for inferring and interpreting the dynamics of adaptive landscapes from phylogenetic comparative data. Syst Biol 2014; 63:902-18. [PMID: 25077513 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syu057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 182] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Our understanding of macroevolutionary patterns of adaptive evolution has greatly increased with the advent of large-scale phylogenetic comparative methods. Widely used Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) models can describe an adaptive process of divergence and selection. However, inference of the dynamics of adaptive landscapes from comparative data is complicated by interpretational difficulties, lack of identifiability among parameter values and the common requirement that adaptive hypotheses must be assigned a priori. Here, we develop a reversible-jump Bayesian method of fitting multi-optima OU models to phylogenetic comparative data that estimates the placement and magnitude of adaptive shifts directly from the data. We show how biologically informed hypotheses can be tested against this inferred posterior of shift locations using Bayes Factors to establish whether our a priori models adequately describe the dynamics of adaptive peak shifts. Furthermore, we show how the inclusion of informative priors can be used to restrict models to biologically realistic parameter space and test particular biological interpretations of evolutionary models. We argue that Bayesian model fitting of OU models to comparative data provides a framework for integrating of multiple sources of biological data-such as microevolutionary estimates of selection parameters and paleontological timeseries-allowing inference of adaptive landscape dynamics with explicit, process-based biological interpretations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josef C Uyeda
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Life Sciences South 252, 875 Perimeter Dr MS 3051, Moscow, ID., University of Idaho
| | - Luke J Harmon
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Life Sciences South 252, 875 Perimeter Dr MS 3051, Moscow, ID., University of Idaho
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18
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Rödder D, Lawing AM, Flecks M, Ahmadzadeh F, Dambach J, Engler JO, Habel JC, Hartmann T, Hörnes D, Ihlow F, Schidelko K, Stiels D, Polly PD. Evaluating the significance of paleophylogeographic species distribution models in reconstructing quaternary range-shifts of nearctic chelonians. PLoS One 2013; 8:e72855. [PMID: 24130664 PMCID: PMC3794015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2013] [Accepted: 07/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The climatic cycles of the Quaternary, during which global mean annual temperatures have regularly changed by 5-10°C, provide a special opportunity for studying the rate, magnitude, and effects of geographic responses to changing climates. During the Quaternary, high- and mid-latitude species were extirpated from regions that were covered by ice or otherwise became unsuitable, persisting in refugial retreats where the environment was compatible with their tolerances. In this study we combine modern geographic range data, phylogeny, Pleistocene paleoclimatic models, and isotopic records of changes in global mean annual temperature, to produce a temporally continuous model of geographic changes in potential habitat for 59 species of North American turtles over the past 320 Ka (three full glacial-interglacial cycles). These paleophylogeographic models indicate the areas where past climates were compatible with the modern ranges of the species and serve as hypotheses for how their geographic ranges would have changed in response to Quaternary climate cycles. We test these hypotheses against physiological, genetic, taxonomic and fossil evidence, and we then use them to measure the effects of Quaternary climate cycles on species distributions. Patterns of range expansion, contraction, and fragmentation in the models are strongly congruent with (i) phylogeographic differentiation; (ii) morphological variation; (iii) physiological tolerances; and (iv) intraspecific genetic variability. Modern species with significant interspecific differentiation have geographic ranges that strongly fluctuated and repeatedly fragmented throughout the Quaternary. Modern species with low genetic diversity have geographic distributions that were highly variable and at times exceedingly small in the past. Our results reveal the potential for paleophylogeographic models to (i) reconstruct past geographic range modifications, (ii) identify geographic processes that result in genetic bottlenecks; and (iii) predict threats due to anthropogenic climate change in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Rödder
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - A. Michelle Lawing
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Morris Flecks
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | | | | | - Jan O. Engler
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
- Department of Biogeography, Trier University, Trier, Germany
| | | | - Timo Hartmann
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - David Hörnes
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - Flora Ihlow
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Darius Stiels
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - P. David Polly
- Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America
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McCue MD, De Los Santos R. Upper thermal limits of insects are not the result of insufficient oxygen delivery. Physiol Biochem Zool 2013; 86:257-65. [PMID: 23434785 DOI: 10.1086/669932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Most natural environments experience fluctuating temperatures that acutely affect an organism's physiology and ultimately a species' biogeographic distribution. Here we examine whether oxygen delivery to tissues becomes limiting as body temperature increases and eventually causes death at upper lethal temperatures. Because of the limited direct, experimental evidence supporting this possibility in terrestrial arthropods, we explored the effect of ambient oxygen availability on the thermotolerance of insects representing six species (Acheta domesticus, Hippodamia convergens, Gromphadorhina portentosa, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, Tenebrio molitor, and Zophobus morio), four taxonomic orders (Blattodea, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Orthoptera), and multiple life stages (e.g., adults vs. larvae or nymphs). The survival curves of insects exposed to temperatures (45° or 50°C) under normoxic conditions (21% O(2)) were compared with those measured under altered oxygen levels (0%, 10%, 35%, and 95% O(2)). Kaplan-Meier log rank analyses followed by Holm-Sidak pairwise comparisons revealed that (1) anoxia sharply diminished survival times in all groups studied, (2) thermotolerance under moderate hyperoxia (35% O(2)) or moderate hypoxia (10% O(2)) was the same as or lower than that under normoxia, (3) half of the experimental treatments involving extreme hyperoxia (95% O(2)) caused reduced thermotolerance, and (4) thermotolerance differed with developmental stage. Adult G. portentosa exhibited much higher thermotolerance than their first-instar nymphs, but responses from larval and adult Z. morio were equivocal. We conclude that some factor(s) separate from oxygen delivery is responsible for death of insects at upper lethal temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marshall D McCue
- Department of Biological Sciences, St. Mary's University, One Camino Santa Maria, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA.
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Warming-induced reductions in body size are greater in aquatic than terrestrial species. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012; 109:19310-4. [PMID: 23129645 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1210460109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 233] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Most ectothermic organisms mature at smaller body sizes when reared in warmer conditions. This phenotypically plastic response, known as the "temperature-size rule" (TSR), is one of the most taxonomically widespread patterns in biology. However, the TSR remains a longstanding life-history puzzle for which no dominant driver has been found. We propose that oxygen supply plays a central role in explaining the magnitude of ectothermic temperature-size responses. Given the much lower oxygen availability and greater effort required to increase uptake in water vs. air, we predict that the TSR in aquatic organisms, especially larger species with lower surface area-body mass ratios, will be stronger than in terrestrial organisms. We performed a meta-analysis of 1,890 body mass responses to temperature in controlled experiments on 169 terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species. This reveals that the strength of the temperature-size response is greater in aquatic than terrestrial species. In animal species of ∼100 mg dry mass, the temperature-size response of aquatic organisms is 10 times greater than in terrestrial organisms (-5.0% °C(-1) vs. -0.5% °C(-1)). Moreover, although the size response of small (<0.1 mg dry mass) aquatic and terrestrial species is similar, increases in species size cause the response to become increasingly negative in aquatic species, as predicted, but on average less negative in terrestrial species. These results support oxygen as a major driver of temperature-size responses in aquatic organisms. Further, the environment-dependent differences parallel latitudinal body size clines, and will influence predicted impacts of climate warming on food production, community structure, and food-web dynamics.
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Shi P, Wang B, Ayres MP, Ge F, Zhong L, Li BL. Influence of temperature on the northern distribution limits of Scirpophaga incertulas Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in China. J Therm Biol 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2011.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Eronen JT, Polly PD, Fred M, Damuth J, Frank DC, Mosbrugger V, Scheidegger C, Stenseth NC, Fortelius M. Ecometrics: the traits that bind the past and present together. Integr Zool 2012; 5:88-101. [PMID: 21392327 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-4877.2010.00192.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We outline here an approach for understanding the biology of climate change, one that integrates data at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Taxon-free trait analysis, or "ecometrics," is based on the idea that the distribution in a community of ecomorphological traits such as tooth structure, limb proportions, body mass, leaf shape, incubation temperature, claw shape, any aspect of anatomy or physiology can be measured across some subset of the organisms in a community. Regardless of temporal or spatial scale, traits are the means by which organisms interact with their environment, biotic and abiotic. Ecometrics measures these interactions by focusing on traits which are easily measurable, whose structure is closely related to their function, and whose function interacts directly with local environment. Ecometric trait distributions are thus a comparatively universal metric for exploring systems dynamics at all scales. The main challenge now is to move beyond investigating how future climate change will affect the distribution of organisms and how it will impact ecosystem services and to shift the perspective to ask how biotic systems interact with changing climate in general, and how climate change affects the interactions within and between the components of the whole biotic-physical system. We believe that it is possible to provide believable, quantitative answers to these questions. Because of this we have initiated an IUBS program iCCB (integrative Climate Change Biology).
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Affiliation(s)
- Jussi T Eronen
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - P David Polly
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Marianne Fred
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - John Damuth
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - David C Frank
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Volker Mosbrugger
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Christoph Scheidegger
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Nils Chr Stenseth
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Mikael Fortelius
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki University, FinlandDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, USAARONIA Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University and Novia, University of Applied Sciences, Coastal Zone Research Team, Ekenäs, FinlandDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USASwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandSenckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute, Frankfurt, GermanyCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Ehnes RB, Rall BC, Brose U. Phylogenetic grouping, curvature and metabolic scaling in terrestrial invertebrates. Ecol Lett 2011; 14:993-1000. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01660.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Rombough P. The energetics of embryonic growth. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2011; 178:22-9. [PMID: 21571102 DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2011.04.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2011] [Revised: 04/27/2011] [Accepted: 04/28/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Embryos typically operate under much tighter energy constraints than older animals. This has had a profound impact on how energy is stored, mobilized and partitioned. The result is sometimes quite different ways of doing things. Growth, in particular, is a much more important activity during development. Compared with adults, specific growth rates (g) are extremely high (≥150%day(-1) for some fish). Production efficiencies are also much higher, particularly for early stages where values of 80-90% are not uncommon. Higher production efficiencies are possible, in part, because of lower unit costs at high g. Unlike in adults, the unit cost of growth does not appear to be fixed during early life. Energy also tends to be partitioned in a different manner, with compensatory partitioning being much more important during early life. Other differences include much higher routine metabolic intensities, smaller aerobic scopes and approximately isometric scaling of routine metabolism. The implications for ontogenetic growth models are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Rombough
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, Brandon, Canada.
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Grosset C, Villeneuve A, Brieger A, Lair S. Cryptosporidiosis in Juvenile Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps): Effects of Treatment with Paromomycin. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.5818/1529-9651-21.1.10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Claire Grosset
- Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, J2S 7C6 Canada
| | - Alain Villeneuve
- Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, J2S 7C6 Canada
| | - Andreas Brieger
- Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, J2S 7C6 Canada
| | - Stéphane Lair
- Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, J2S 7C6 Canada
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Sander PM, Christian A, Clauss M, Fechner R, Gee CT, Griebeler EM, Gunga HC, Hummel J, Mallison H, Perry SF, Preuschoft H, Rauhut OWM, Remes K, Tütken T, Wings O, Witzel U. Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: the evolution of gigantism. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2011; 86:117-55. [PMID: 21251189 PMCID: PMC3045712 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2010.00137.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2009] [Revised: 03/13/2010] [Accepted: 03/16/2010] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were the largest terrestrial animals ever, surpassing the largest herbivorous mammals by an order of magnitude in body mass. Several evolutionary lineages among Sauropoda produced giants with body masses in excess of 50 metric tonnes by conservative estimates. With body mass increase driven by the selective advantages of large body size, animal lineages will increase in body size until they reach the limit determined by the interplay of bauplan, biology, and resource availability. There is no evidence, however, that resource availability and global physicochemical parameters were different enough in the Mesozoic to have led to sauropod gigantism. We review the biology of sauropod dinosaurs in detail and posit that sauropod gigantism was made possible by a specific combination of plesiomorphic characters (phylogenetic heritage) and evolutionary innovations at different levels which triggered a remarkable evolutionary cascade. Of these key innovations, the most important probably was the very long neck, the most conspicuous feature of the sauropod bauplan. Compared to other herbivores, the long neck allowed more efficient food uptake than in other large herbivores by covering a much larger feeding envelope and making food accessible that was out of the reach of other herbivores. Sauropods thus must have been able to take up more energy from their environment than other herbivores. The long neck, in turn, could only evolve because of the small head and the extensive pneumatization of the sauropod axial skeleton, lightening the neck. The small head was possible because food was ingested without mastication. Both mastication and a gastric mill would have limited food uptake rate. Scaling relationships between gastrointestinal tract size and basal metabolic rate (BMR) suggest that sauropods compensated for the lack of particle reduction with long retention times, even at high uptake rates. The extensive pneumatization of the axial skeleton resulted from the evolution of an avian-style respiratory system, presumably at the base of Saurischia. An avian-style respiratory system would also have lowered the cost of breathing, reduced specific gravity, and may have been important in removing excess body heat. Another crucial innovation inherited from basal dinosaurs was a high BMR. This is required for fueling the high growth rate necessary for a multi-tonne animal to survive to reproductive maturity. The retention of the plesiomorphic oviparous mode of reproduction appears to have been critical as well, allowing much faster population recovery than in megaherbivore mammals. Sauropods produced numerous but small offspring each season while land mammals show a negative correlation of reproductive output to body size. This permitted lower population densities in sauropods than in megaherbivore mammals but larger individuals. Our work on sauropod dinosaurs thus informs us about evolutionary limits to body size in other groups of herbivorous terrestrial tetrapods. Ectothermic reptiles are strongly limited by their low BMR, remaining small. Mammals are limited by their extensive mastication and their vivipary, while ornithsichian dinosaurs were only limited by their extensive mastication, having greater average body sizes than mammals.
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Polly PD, Eronen JT, Fred M, Dietl GP, Mosbrugger V, Scheidegger C, Frank DC, Damuth J, Stenseth NC, Fortelius M. History matters: ecometrics and integrative climate change biology. Proc Biol Sci 2011; 278:1131-40. [PMID: 21227966 PMCID: PMC3049084 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change research is increasingly focusing on the dynamics among species, ecosystems and climates. Better data about the historical behaviours of these dynamics are urgently needed. Such data are already available from ecology, archaeology, palaeontology and geology, but their integration into climate change research is hampered by differences in their temporal and geographical scales. One productive way to unite data across scales is the study of functional morphological traits, which can form a common denominator for studying interactions between species and climate across taxa, across ecosystems, across space and through time—an approach we call ‘ecometrics’. The sampling methods that have become established in palaeontology to standardize over different scales can be synthesized with tools from community ecology and climate change biology to improve our understanding of the dynamics among species, ecosystems, climates and earth systems over time. Developing these approaches into an integrative climate change biology will help enrich our understanding of the changes our modern world is undergoing.
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Affiliation(s)
- P David Polly
- Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
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Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures. Nature 2009; 457:715-7. [DOI: 10.1038/nature07671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2008] [Accepted: 11/26/2008] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Scientists find world's biggest snake. Nature 2009. [DOI: 10.1038/news.2009.80] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Chown SL, Gaston KJ. Macrophysiology for a changing world. Proc Biol Sci 2008; 275:1469-78. [PMID: 18397867 PMCID: PMC2394563 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2008] [Revised: 02/24/2008] [Accepted: 03/14/2008] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) has identified climate change, habitat destruction, invasive species, overexploitation and pollution as the major drivers of biodiversity loss and sources of concern for human well-being. Understanding how these drivers operate and interact and how they might be mitigated are among the most pressing questions facing humanity. Here, we show how macrophysiology--the investigation of variation in physiological traits over large geographical, temporal and phylogenetic scales--can contribute significantly to answering these questions. We do so by demonstrating, for each of the MA drivers, how a macrophysiological approach can or has helped elucidate the impacts of these drivers and their interactions. Moreover, we illustrate that a large-scale physiological perspective can provide insights into previously unrecognized threats to diversity, such as the erosion of physiological variation and stress tolerance, which are a consequence of the removal of large species and individuals from the biosphere. In so doing we demonstrate that environmental physiologists have much to offer the scientific quest to resolve major environmental problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven L Chown
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, Republic of South Africa.
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Hui C, McGeoch M. Evolution of body size, range size, and food composition in a predator–prey metapopulation. ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY 2006. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2005.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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MAKARIEVA AM, GORSHKOV VG, LI BL, CHOWN SL. Size- and temperature-independence of minimum life-supporting metabolic rates. Funct Ecol 2006. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01070.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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