Deep-time climate legacies affect origination rates of marine genera

Mathes G, Kießling W, Steinbauer MJ (2021)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Book Volume: 118

Article Number: e2105769118

Journal Issue: 36

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2105769118

Abstract

Biodiversity dynamics are shaped by a complex interplay between current conditions and historic legacy. The interaction of short- and long-term climate change may mask the true relationship of evolutionary responses to climate change if not specifically accounted for. These paleoclimate interactions have been demonstrated for extinction risk and biodiversity change, but their importance for origination dynamics remains untested. Here, we show that origination probability in marine fossil genera is strongly affected by paleoclimate interactions. Overall, origination probability increases by 27.8% [95% CI (27.4%, 28.3%)] when a short-term cooling adds to a long-term cooling trend. This large effect is consistent through time and all studied groups. The mechanisms of the detected effect might be manifold but are likely connected to increased allopatric speciation with eustatic sea level drop caused by sustained global cooling. We tested this potential mechanism through which paleoclimate interactions can act on origination rates by additionally examining a proxy for habitat fragmentation. This proxy, continental fragmentation, has a similar effect on origination rates as paleoclimate interactions, supporting the importance of allopatric speciation through habitat fragmentation in the deep-time fossil record. The identified complex nature of paleoclimate interactions might explain contradictory conclusions on the relationship between temperature and origination in the previous literature. Our results highlight the need to account for complex interactions in evolutionary studies both between and among biotic and abiotic factors.

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APA:

Mathes, G., Kießling, W., & Steinbauer, M.J. (2021). Deep-time climate legacies affect origination rates of marine genera. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(36). https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105769118

MLA:

Mathes, Gregor, Wolfgang Kießling, and Manuel J. Steinbauer. "Deep-time climate legacies affect origination rates of marine genera." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118.36 (2021).

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