Ecological Specialization in Fossil Mammals Explains Cope’s Rule

Raia, Pasquale; Carotenuto, Francesco; Passaro, Federico; Fulgione, Domenico

doi:10.1086/664081

Cited by 82 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Excluding Ac. tricuspidatus , there is a clear positive correlation between body mass and hypercarnivory, as observed in placental predators (Van Valkenburgh et al 2004;Raia et al 2012). This is consistent with the energy balance in acquiring large body masses that require the consumption of larger prey and larger quantities of meat (Carbone et al 1999(Carbone et al , 2007Van Valkenburgh et al 2004).…”

Section: L a D O S I C T I S P A T A G O N I C A P R O T H Y L A C supporting

confidence: 76%

The Structure of the Mammalian Predator Guild in the Santa Cruz Formation (Late Early Miocene)

2013

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The Santa Cruz Formation (late early Miocene, Santacrucian age) registers 11 species of mammalian predators (Metatheria, Sparassodonta). Together with large carnivorous flightless birds, they comprised the terrestrial predator guild. The Santacrucian sparassodonts were diverse in body size, had different locomotory habits, and were primarily hypercarnivores. The objective of this work is to analyze the guild structure of the sparassodonts of the Santa Cruz Formation, using the variables of body mass, diet, and locomotion as proxies. Furthermore, we analyze the interaction with other predators and potential prey. The univariated test V of Poole and Rathcke and the multivariated test of Clark-Evans were used to construct the models. In the multivariate test, we made a Principal Component Analysis to resume and standardize the variables. With body mass and locomotion we obtained an evenly spaced pattern of segregation for the sparassodont species, being non-significant and significant, respectively. The pattern was aggregated and significant only with diet. The analysis of all variables together resulted in an evenly spaced and significant pattern, which is consistent with character displacements (segregation of species throughout the morphospace) that would help to diminish interspecific competition during the Santacrucian age and would allow selection of prey species of different sizes and substrate specializations. When the body size pattern of predator birds and sparassodonts were plotted together, the pattern is evenly spaced and nonsignificant. Other factors, including locomotion, would differentiate these species and their ecological niches.

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Section: L a D O S I C T I S P A T A G O N I C A P R O T H Y L A C supporting

confidence: 76%

The Structure of the Mammalian Predator Guild in the Santa Cruz Formation (Late Early Miocene)

2013

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“…It is reasonably common to observe discrete macroevolutionary patterns in different higher taxa or across different major habitats. Notable examples include the incongruence between terrestrial and marine Phanerozoic diversity curves [45][46][47] , variations in the apparent force of Cope's rule sensu lato in different higher taxa [48][49][50] , and variations in the relationships between body size, population density and fecundity across clades 51,52 . However, the differences between patterns observed at major extinction events may result from differences ARTICLE between the particular driving forces of the crises themselves.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic range did not confer resilience to extinction in terrestrial vertebrates at the end-Triassic crisis

Dunhill

Wills

2015

Nat Commun

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Rates of extinction vary greatly through geological time, with losses particularly concentrated in mass extinctions. Species duration at other times varies greatly, but the reasons for this are unclear. Geographical range correlates with lineage duration amongst marine invertebrates, but it is less clear how far this generality extends to other groups in other habitats. It is also unclear whether a wide geographical distribution makes groups more likely to survive mass extinctions. Here we test for extinction selectivity amongst terrestrial vertebrates across the end-Triassic event. We demonstrate that terrestrial vertebrate clades with larger geographical ranges were more resilient to extinction than those with smaller ranges throughout the Triassic and Jurassic. However, this relationship weakened with increasing proximity to the end-Triassic mass extinction, breaking down altogether across the event itself. We demonstrate that these findings are not a function of sampling biases; a perennial issue in studies of this kind.

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“…We assembled a phylogenetic tree, including 1031 extinct Coenozoic placental mammals calibrated on the fossil record, for which we either had or produced body size estimates, by expanding upon fossil phylogenies that we published in previous works [35,36] (see the electronic supplementary material, appendix S1 and S2). The tree includes species belonging to the Fereuungulata (excluding Cetacea and Pholidota) and Proboscidea clades.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid action in the Palaeogene, the relationship between phenotypic and taxonomic diversification in Coenozoic mammals

et al. 2013

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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.

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Ecological Specialization in Fossil Mammals Explains Cope’s Rule

Cited by 82 publications

References 59 publications

The Structure of the Mammalian Predator Guild in the Santa Cruz Formation (Late Early Miocene)

The Structure of the Mammalian Predator Guild in the Santa Cruz Formation (Late Early Miocene)

Geographic range did not confer resilience to extinction in terrestrial vertebrates at the end-Triassic crisis

Rapid action in the Palaeogene, the relationship between phenotypic and taxonomic diversification in Coenozoic mammals

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