Ecological opportunity and the rise and fall of crocodylomorph evolutionary innovation
| Autor: | Stephanie E. Pierce, Emily J. Rayfield, Philip S. L. Anderson, Michael J. Benton, Armin Elsler, Thomas L. Stubbs |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
ecomorphology
0106 biological sciences evolutionary rates Ecomorphology crocodylomorph Biodiversity 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology 03 medical and health sciences Animals 14. Life underwater Mesozoic Evolutionary dynamics Phylogeny Research Articles 030304 developmental biology General Environmental Science Apex predator Alligators and Crocodiles 0303 health sciences Herbivore General Immunology and Microbiology Fossils Ecology Skull General Medicine Biological Evolution innovation Cretaceous Geography disparity Palaeobiology General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Cenozoic |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Stubbs, T L, Pierce, S E, Elsler, A, Anderson, P S L, Rayfield, E J & Benton, M J 2021, ' Ecological opportunity and the rise and fall of crocodylomorph evolutionary innovation ', Proceedings. Biological sciences, vol. 288, no. 1947, 0069 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0069 |
| ISSN: | 1471-2954 0962-8452 |
| Popis: | Understanding the origin, expansion and loss of biodiversity is fundamental to evolutionary biology. The approximately 26 living species of crocodylomorphs (crocodiles, caimans, alligators and gharials) represent just a snapshot of the group's rich 230-million-year history, whereas the fossil record reveals a hidden past of great diversity and innovation, including ocean and land-dwelling forms, herbivores, omnivores and apex predators. In this macroevolutionary study of skull and jaw shape disparity, we show that crocodylomorph ecomorphological variation peaked in the Cretaceous, before declining in the Cenozoic, and the rise and fall of disparity was associated with great heterogeneity in evolutionary rates. Taxonomically diverse and ecologically divergent Mesozoic crocodylomorphs, like marine thalattosuchians and terrestrial notosuchians, rapidly evolved novel skull and jaw morphologies to fill specialized adaptive zones. Disparity in semi-aquatic predatory crocodylians, the only living crocodylomorph representatives, accumulated steadily, and they evolved more slowly for most of the last 80 million years, but despite their conservatism there is no evidence for long-term evolutionary stagnation. These complex evolutionary dynamics reflect ecological opportunities, that were readily exploited by some Mesozoic crocodylomorphs but more limited in Cenozoic crocodylians. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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