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Rapid action in the Palaeogene, the relationship between phenotypic and taxonomic diversification in Coenozoic mammals
- Source :
- Publons
- Publication Year :
- 2013
- Publisher :
- The Royal Society, 2013.
-
Abstract
- A classic question in evolutionary biology concerns the tempo and mode of lineage evolution. Considered variously in relation to resource utilization, intrinsic constraints or hierarchic level, the question of how evolutionary change occurs in general has continued to draw the attention of the field for over a century and a half. Here we use the largest species-level phylogeny of Coenozoic fossil mammals (1031 species) ever assembled and their body size estimates, to show that body size and taxonomic diversification rates declined from the origin of placentals towards the present, and very probably correlate to each other. These findings suggest that morphological and taxic diversifications of mammals occurred hierarchically, with major shifts in body size coinciding with the birth of large clades, followed by taxonomic diversification within these newly formed clades. As the clades expanded, rates of taxonomic diversification proceeded independently of phenotypic evolution. Such a dynamic is consistent with the idea, central to the Modern Synthesis, that mammals radiated adaptively, with the filling of adaptive zones following the radiation.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Evolutionary change
Biology
Body size
Diversification (marketing strategy)
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Adaptive zone
Mammal
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
03 medical and health sciences
Phylogenetics
Animals
Body Size
Clade
Phylogeny
Research Articles
Coenozoic
030304 developmental biology
General Environmental Science
Mammals
0303 health sciences
General Immunology and Microbiology
Fossils
Ecology
Paleontology
General Medicine
Biological Evolution
Phenotype
Evolutionary biology
Net diversification rate
Phenotypic evolutionary rate
Regression Analysis
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Paleogene
Resource utilization
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14712954 and 09628452
- Volume :
- 280
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....47e2e76372f150bb441fa35dc1c39d2f