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De Lira Mota MA, Dunkley Jones T, Sulaiman N, Edgar KM, Yamaguchi T, Leng MJ, Adloff M, Greene SE, Norris R, Warren B, Duffy G, Farrant J, Murayama M, Hall J, Bendle J. Multi-proxy evidence for sea level fall at the onset of the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4748. [PMID: 37553323 PMCID: PMC10409788 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39806-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Continental-scale expansion of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT) is one of the largest non-linear events in Earth's climate history. Declining atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and orbital variability triggered glacial expansion and strong feedbacks in the climate system. Prominent among these feedbacks was the repartitioning of biogeochemical cycles between the continental shelves and the deep ocean with falling sea level. Here we present multiple proxies from a shallow shelf location that identify a marked regression and an elevated flux of continental-derived organic matter at the earliest stage of the EOT, a time of deep ocean carbonate dissolution and the extinction of oligotrophic phytoplankton groups. We link these observations using an Earth System model, whereby this first regression delivers a pulse of organic carbon to the oceans that could drive the observed patterns of deep ocean dissolution and acts as a transient negative feedback to climate cooling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo A De Lira Mota
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
- Institute of Geosciences, University of São Paulo, Rua do Lago, 562 - Butantã, São Paulo, SP, 05508-080, Brazil.
| | - Tom Dunkley Jones
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Nursufiah Sulaiman
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
- Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Jeli Campus, Locked Bag No 100, 17600, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia
| | - Kirsty M Edgar
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Tatsuhiko Yamaguchi
- National Museum of Nature and Science, 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, 305-0005, Japan
- Center for Advanced Marine Core Research, Kochi University, 200 Monobe Otsu, Nankoku, Kochi, 783-8502, Japan
| | - Melanie J Leng
- British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK
- Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Markus Adloff
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol, BS81SS, UK
- Oeschger Centre, University of Bern, Hochschulstrasse 6, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Sarah E Greene
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Richard Norris
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Bridget Warren
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Grace Duffy
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Jennifer Farrant
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Masafumi Murayama
- Center for Advanced Marine Core Research, Kochi University, 200 Monobe Otsu, Nankoku, Kochi, 783-8502, Japan
- Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Science, Kochi University, B200 Monobe, Nankoku, Kochi, 783-8502, Japan
| | - Jonathan Hall
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - James Bendle
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
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2
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Poust AW, Barrett PZ, Tomiya S. An early nimravid from California and the rise of hypercarnivorous mammals after the middle Eocene climatic optimum. Biol Lett 2022. [PMCID: PMC9554728 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Carnivoraforms (crown carnivorans and their closest relatives) first occupied hypercarnivorous niches near the dawn of the late Eocene, 40–37 Ma. This followed the decline or extinction of earlier carnivorous groups, Mesonychia and Oxyaenodonta, leaving carnivoraforms and hyaenodontan meat-eaters as high trophic level consumers. The pattern of this change and the relative contributions of the taxonomic groups has hitherto been unclear. We report a new genus and species of the sabretoothed mammalian carnivore family Nimravidae, Pangurban egiae, from the Eocene Pomerado Conglomerate of southern California, with strongly derived hypercarnivorous features. While geochronologically the oldest named nimravid in North America, Pangurban egiae is recovered as phylogenetically derived, with affinities to Hoplophoneus. This provides unequivocal evidence for rapid radiation and spread of nimravid carnivores across Asia and North America and constrains the timing of early divergences within the family. Pangurban egiae narrows the gap between convergent iterations of sabretoothed mammalian carnivores and demonstrates swift diversification of the hypercarnivorous nimravids during a period of global climatic instability. Furthermore, it highlights the top-to-bottom restructuring North American ecosystems underwent during the Eocene–Oligocene transition, resulting in carnivoraforms taking positions as trophic specialists for the first time, a niche they still occupy today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley W. Poust
- Department of Paleontology, San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, CA 92101, USA,University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Paul Z. Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
| | - Susumu Tomiya
- University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology, Kyoto University Primate Research Institute, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan,Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan,Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
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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.
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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
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Ahmadi M, Hemami MR, Kaboli M, Nazarizadeh M, Malekian M, Behrooz R, Geniez P, Alroy J, Zimmermann NE. The legacy of Eastern Mediterranean mountain uplifts: rapid disparity of phylogenetic niche conservatism and divergence in mountain vipers. BMC Ecol Evol 2021; 21:130. [PMID: 34157982 PMCID: PMC8220690 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01863-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The orogeny of the eastern Mediterranean region has substantially affected ecological speciation patterns, particularly of mountain-dwelling species. Mountain vipers of the genus Montivipera are among the paramount examples of Mediterranean neo-endemism, with restricted ranges in the mountains of Anatolia, the Levant, Caucasus, Alborz, and Zagros. Here we explore the phylogenetic and ecological diversification of Montivipera to reconstruct its ecological niche evolution and biogeographic history. Using 177 sequences of three mitochondrial genes, a dated molecular phylogeny of mountain vipers was reconstructed. Based on 320 occurrence points within the entire range of the genus and six climatic variables, ecological niches were modelled and used to infer ancestral niche occupancy. In addition, the biogeographic history and ancestral states of the species were reconstructed across climate gradients. RESULTS Dated phylogenetic reconstruction revealed that the ancestor of mountain vipers split into two major clades at around 12.18 Mya followed by multiple vicariance events due to rapid orogeny. Montivipera colonised coastal regions from a mountain-dwelling ancestor. We detected a highly complex ecological niche evolution of mountain vipers to temperature seasonality, a variable that also showed a strong phylogenetic signal and high contribution in niche occupation. CONCLUSION Raising mountain belts in the Eastern Mediterranean region and subsequent remarkable changes in temperature seasonality have led to the formation of important centres of diversification and endemism in this biodiversity hotspot. High rates of niche conservatism, low genetic diversity, and segregation of ranges into the endemic distribution negatively influenced the adaptive capacity of mountain vipers. We suggest that these species should be considered as evolutionary significant units and priority species for conservation in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsen Ahmadi
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111, Isfahan, Iran.
| | - Mahmoud-Reza Hemami
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Mohammad Kaboli
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
| | - Masoud Nazarizadeh
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre CAS, v.v.i., České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Mansoureh Malekian
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Roozbeh Behrooz
- CEFE, PSL-EPHE (Biogéographie et Ecologie des Vertébrés), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Geniez
- CEFE, PSL-EPHE (Biogéographie et Ecologie des Vertébrés), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - John Alroy
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, NSW, 2109, Australia
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Tomiya S, Miller LK. Why aren't rabbits and hares larger? Evolution 2021; 75:847-860. [PMID: 33599290 PMCID: PMC8252017 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 11/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Macroevolutionary consequences of competition among large clades have long been sought in patterns of lineage diversification. However, mechanistically clear examples of such effects remain elusive. Here, we postulated that the limited phenotypic diversity and insular gigantism in lagomorphs could be explained at least in part by an evolutionary constraint placed on them by potentially competing ungulate-type herbivores (UTHs). Our analyses yielded three independent lines of evidence supporting this hypothesis: (1) the minimum UTH body mass is the most influential predictor of the maximum lagomorph body mass in modern ecoregions; (2) the scaling patterns of local-population energy use suggest universal competitive disadvantage of lagomorphs weighing over approximately 6.3 kg against artiodactyls, closely matching their observed upper size limit in continental settings; and (3) the trajectory of maximum lagomorph body mass in North America from the late Eocene to the Pleistocene (37.5-1.5 million years ago) was best modeled by the body mass ceiling placed by the smallest contemporary perissodactyl or artiodactyl. Body size evolution in lagomorphs has likely been regulated by the forces of competition within the clade, increased predation in open habitats, and importantly, competition from other ungulate-type herbivores. Our findings suggest conditionally-coupled dynamics of phenotypic boundaries among multiple clades within an adaptive zone, and highlight the synergy of biotic and abiotic drivers of diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susumu Tomiya
- Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology, Kyoto University Primate Research Institute, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan.,Negaunee Integrative Research and Gantz Family Collections Centers, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA.,Museums of Paleontology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.,Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Lauren K Miller
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
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Rahbek C, Borregaard MK, Antonelli A, Colwell RK, Holt BG, Nogues-Bravo D, Rasmussen CMØ, Richardson K, Rosing MT, Whittaker RJ, Fjeldså J. Building mountain biodiversity: Geological and evolutionary processes. Science 2019; 365:1114-1119. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aax0151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 201] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Mountain regions are unusually biodiverse, with rich aggregations of small-ranged species that form centers of endemism. Mountains play an array of roles for Earth’s biodiversity and affect neighboring lowlands through biotic interchange, changes in regional climate, and nutrient runoff. The high biodiversity of certain mountains reflects the interplay of multiple evolutionary mechanisms: enhanced speciation rates with distinct opportunities for coexistence and persistence of lineages, shaped by long-term climatic changes interacting with topographically dynamic landscapes. High diversity in most tropical mountains is tightly linked to bedrock geology—notably, areas comprising mafic and ultramafic lithologies, rock types rich in magnesium and poor in phosphate that present special requirements for plant physiology. Mountain biodiversity bears the signature of deep-time evolutionary and ecological processes, a history well worth preserving.
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Stevens RD, Rowe RJ, Badgley C. Gradients of mammalian biodiversity through space and time. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Richard D Stevens
- Department of Natural Resources Management and Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
| | - Rebecca J Rowe
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Catherine Badgley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Cleary TJ, Benson RBJ, Evans SE, Barrett PM. Lepidosaurian diversity in the Mesozoic-Palaeogene: the potential roles of sampling biases and environmental drivers. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:171830. [PMID: 29657788 PMCID: PMC5882712 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Lepidosauria is a speciose clade with a long evolutionary history, but there have been few attempts to explore its taxon richness through time. Here we estimate patterns of terrestrial lepidosaur genus diversity for the Triassic-Palaeogene (252-23 Ma), and compare observed and sampling-corrected richness curves generated using Shareholder Quorum Subsampling and classical rarefaction. Generalized least-squares regression (GLS) is used to investigate the relationships between richness, sampling and environmental proxies. We found low levels of richness from the Triassic until the Late Cretaceous (except in the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian of Europe). High richness is recovered for the Late Cretaceous of North America, which declined across the K-Pg boundary but remained relatively high throughout the Palaeogene. Richness decreased following the Eocene-Oligocene Grande Coupure in North America and Europe, but remained high in North America and very high in Europe compared to the Late Cretaceous; elsewhere data are lacking. GLS analyses indicate that sampling biases (particularly, the number of fossil collections per interval) are the best explanation for long-term face-value genus richness trends. The lepidosaur fossil record presents many problems when attempting to reconstruct past diversity, with geographical sampling biases being of particular concern, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terri J. Cleary
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Roger B. J. Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Susan E. Evans
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Paul M. Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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Twenty-million-year relationship between mammalian diversity and primary productivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:10908-13. [PMID: 27621451 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1602145113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
At global and regional scales, primary productivity strongly correlates with richness patterns of extant animals across space, suggesting that resource availability and climatic conditions drive patterns of diversity. However, the existence and consistency of such diversity-productivity relationships through geological history is unclear. Here we provide a comprehensive quantitative test of the diversity-productivity relationship for terrestrial large mammals through time across broad temporal and spatial scales. We combine >14,000 occurrences for 690 fossil genera through the Neogene (23-1.8 Mya) with regional estimates of primary productivity from fossil plant communities in North America and Europe. We show a significant positive diversity-productivity relationship through the 20-million-year record, providing evidence on unprecedented spatial and temporal scales that this relationship is a general pattern in the ecology and paleo-ecology of our planet. Further, we discover that genus richness today does not match the fossil relationship, suggesting that a combination of human impacts and Pleistocene climate variability has modified the 20-million-year ecological relationship by strongly reducing primary productivity and driving many mammalian species into decline or to extinction.
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