Biotic influences on species duration: interactions between traits in marine molluscs

Paleobiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Crampton ◽  
Roger A. Cooper ◽  
Alan G. Beu ◽  
Michael Foote ◽  
Bruce A. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Marine Molluscs ◽  
Larval Type ◽  
Feeding Type ◽  
Life Mode

We analyze relationships among a range of ecological and biological traits—geographic range size, body size, life mode, larval type, and feeding type—in order to identify those traits that are associated significantly with species duration in New Zealand Cenozoic marine molluscs, during a time of background extinction. Using log-linear modeling, we find that bivalves have only a small number of simple, two-way associations between the studied traits and duration. In contrast, gastropods display more complex interactions involving three-way associations between traits, a pattern that suggests greater macroecological complexity of gastropods. This is not an artifact caused by the larger number of gastropods than bivalves in our data set. We used stratified randomized resampling of families to test for associations between traits that might result from shared inheritance rather than ecological trait interactions; we found no evidence of phylogenetic effects in any associations examined. The relationships revealed by our study should serve to constrain the range of possible biological mechanisms that underlie these relationships. As previously observed, two-way associations are present between large geographic range and increased duration, and between large geographic range and large body size, in both bivalves and gastropods. In gastropods, planktotrophic larval type is associated with large range size through a three-way interaction that also involves duration; there is no direct association of larval type and geographic range. Gastropods also display two-way associations between duration and life mode, and duration and feeding type. We note that in gastropods, an infaunal life mode is associated with large range size, whereas in bivalves infaunality is associated with reduced range size.

scholarly journals Biological and extrinsic correlates of extinction risk in Chinese lizards

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxi Zhong ◽  
Chuanwu Chen ◽  
Yanping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Extrinsic Factors

Abstract China is a country with one of the most species rich reptile faunas in the world. However, nearly a quarter of Chinese lizard species assessed by the China Biodiversity Red List are threatened. Nevertheless, to date, no study has explicitly examined the pattern and processes of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards. In this study, we conducted the first comparative phylogenetic analysis of extinction risk in Chinese lizards. We addressed the following three questions: 1) What is the pattern of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards? 2) Which species traits and extrinsic factors are related to their extinction risk? 3) How can we protect Chinese lizards based on our results? We collected data on ten species traits (body size, clutch size, geographic range size, activity time, reproductive mode, habitat specialization, habitat use, leg development, maximum elevation, and elevation range) and seven extrinsic factors (mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, mean annual solar insolation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), human footprint, human population density, and human exploitation). After phylogenetic correction, these variables were used separately and in combination to assess their associations with extinction risk. We found that Chinese lizards with small geographic range, large body size, high habitat specialization, and living in high precipitation areas were vulnerable to extinction. Conservation priority should thus be given to species with the above extinction-prone traits so as to effectively protect Chinese lizards. Preventing future habitat destruction should also be a primary focus of management efforts because species with small range size and high habitat specialization are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss.

Allometry of home range size in lake and river fishes

1995 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 1499-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles K. Minns
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Fish Population ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals

A data set assembled from published literature supported the hypotheses that (i) home range size increases allometrically with body size in temperate freshwater fishes, and (ii) fish home ranges are larger in lakes than rivers. The allometric model fitted was home range = A∙(body size)B. Home ranges in lakes were 19–23 times larger than those in rivers. Additional analyses showed that membership in different taxonomic groupings of fish, the presence–absence of piscivory, the method of measuring home range, and the latitude position of the water bodies were not significant predictive factors. Home ranges of freshwater fish were smaller than those of terrestrial mammals, birds, and lizards. Home ranges were larger than area per fish values derived by inverting fish population and assemblage density–size relationships from lakes and rivers and territory–size relationships in stream salmonids. The weight exponent (B) of fish home range was lower than values reported for other vertebrates, 0.58 versus a range of 0.96–1.14. Lake–river home range differences were consistent with differences reported in allometric models of freshwater fish density and production.

scholarly journals Phylogenetic signal in extinction selectivity in Devonian terebratulide brachiopods

Paleobiology ◽  
10.1666/14006 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Harnik ◽  
Paul C. Fitzgerald ◽  
Jonathan L. Payne ◽  
Sandra J. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Extinction Selectivity

Determining which biological traits affect taxonomic durations is critical for explaining macroevolutionary patterns. Two approaches are commonly used to investigate the associations between traits and durations and/or extinction and origination rates: analyses of taxonomic occurrence patterns in the fossil record and comparative phylogenetic analyses, predominantly of extant taxa. By capitalizing upon the empirical record of past extinctions, paleontological data avoid some of the limitations of existing methods for inferring extinction and origination rates from molecular phylogenies. However, most paleontological studies of extinction selectivity have ignored phylogenetic relationships because there is a dearth of phylogenetic hypotheses for diverse non-vertebrate higher taxa in the fossil record. This omission inflates the degrees of freedom in statistical analyses and leaves open the possibility that observed associations are indirect, reflecting shared evolutionary history rather than the direct influence of particular traits on durations. Here we investigate global patterns of extinction selectivity in Devonian terebratulide brachiopods and compare the results of taxonomic vs. phylogenetic approaches. Regression models that assume independence among taxa provide support for a positive association between geographic range size and genus duration but do not indicate an association between body size and genus duration. Brownian motion models of trait evolution identify significant similarities in body size, range size, and duration among closely related terebratulide genera. We use phylogenetic regression to account for shared evolutionary history and find support for a significant positive association between range size and duration among terebratulides that is also phylogenetically structured. The estimated range size–duration relationship is moderately weaker in the phylogenetic analysis due to the down-weighting of closely related genera that were both broadly distributed and long lived; however, this change in slope is not statistically significant. These results provide evidence for the phylogenetic conservatism of organismal and emergent traits, yet also the general phylogenetic independence of the relationship between range size and duration.

Occupancy, range size, and phylogeny in Eurasian Pliocene to Recent large mammals

Paleobiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Carotenuto ◽  
Carmela Barbera ◽  
Pasquale Raia
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Geographic Range Size ◽  
Western Eurasia ◽  
Species Occupancy

Temporal patterns in species occupancy and geographic range size are a major topic in evolutionary ecology research. Here we investigate these patterns in Pliocene to Recent large mammal species and genera in Western Eurasia. By using an extensively sampled fossil record including some 700 fossil localities, we found occupancy and range size trajectories over time to be predominantly peaked among both species and genera, meaning that occupancy and range size reached their maxima midway along taxon existence. These metrics are strongly correlated with each other and to body size, after phylogeny is accounted for by using two different phylogenetic topologies for both species and genera. Phylogenetic signal is strong in body size, and weaker but significant in both occupancy and range size mean values among genera, indicating that these variables are heritable. The intensity of phylogenetic signal is much weaker and often not significant at the species level. This suggests that within genera, occupancy and range size are somewhat variable. However, sister taxa inherit geographic position (the center of their geographic distribution). Taken together, the latter two results indicate that sister species occupy similar positions on the earth's surface, and that the expansion of the geographic range during the existence of a given genus is driven by range expansion of one or more of the species it includes, rather than simply being the summation of these species ranges.

Interspecific geographic range size-body size relationship and the diversification dynamics of Neotropical furnariid birds

Evolution ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1124-1133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Inostroza-Michael ◽  
Cristián E. Hernández ◽  
Enrique Rodríguez-Serrano ◽  
Jorge Avaria-Llautureo ◽  
Marcelo M. Rivadeneira
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Size Relationship ◽  
Geographic Range Size

scholarly journals Reconstructing geographic range-size dynamics from fossil data

Paleobiology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon A. F. Darroch ◽  
Erin E. Saupe
Keyword(s):  
Convex Hull ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Great Circle ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Reconstruction Methods ◽  
Point Data ◽  
Great Circle Distance

AbstractEcologists and paleontologists alike are increasingly using the fossil record as a spatial data set, in particular to study the dynamics and distribution of geographic range sizes among fossil taxa. However, no attempts have been made to establish how accurately range sizes and range-size dynamics can be preserved. Two fundamental questions are: Can common paleo range-size reconstruction methods accurately reproduce known species’ ranges from locality (i.e., point) data? And, are some reconstruction methods more reliable than others? Here, we develop a methodological framework for testing the accuracy of commonly used paleo range-size reconstruction methods (maximum latitudinal range, maximum great-circle distance, convex hull, and alpha convex hull) in different extinction-related biogeographic scenarios. We use the current distribution of surface water bodies as a proxy for “preservable area,” in which to test the performance of the four methods. We find that maximum great-circle distance and convex-hull methods most reliably capture changes in range size at low numbers of fossil sites, whereas convex hull performs best at predicting the distribution of “victims” and “survivors” in hypothetical extinction scenarios. Our results suggest that macroevolutionary and macroecological patterns in the relatively recent past can be studied reliably using only a few fossil occurrence sites. The accuracy of range-size reconstruction undoubtedly changes through time with the distribution and area of fossiliferous sediments; however, our approach provides the opportunity to systematically calibrate the quality of the spatial fossil record in specific environments and time intervals, and to delineate the conditions under which paleobiologists can reconstruct paleobiogeographical, macroecological, and macroevolutionary patterns over critical intervals in Earth history.

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