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The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms
The Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs (66 Ma) led to a 25 million year gap of megaherbivores (>1000 kg) before the evolution of megaherbivorous mammals in the Late Eocene (40 Ma). The botanical consequences of this ‘Palaeocene megaherbivore gap’ (PMHG) remain poor...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Royal Society
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9006001/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35414237 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2633 |
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author | Onstein, Renske E. Kissling, W. Daniel Linder, H. Peter |
author_facet | Onstein, Renske E. Kissling, W. Daniel Linder, H. Peter |
author_sort | Onstein, Renske E. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs (66 Ma) led to a 25 million year gap of megaherbivores (>1000 kg) before the evolution of megaherbivorous mammals in the Late Eocene (40 Ma). The botanical consequences of this ‘Palaeocene megaherbivore gap’ (PMHG) remain poorly explored. We hypothesize that the absence of megaherbivores should result in changes in the diversification and trait evolution of associated plant lineages. We used phylogenetic time- and trait-dependent diversification models with palms (Arecaceae) and show that the PMHG was characterized by speciation slowdowns, decreased evolution of armature and increased evolution of megafaunal (≥4 cm) fruits. This suggests that the absence of browsing by megaherbivores during the PMHG may have led to a loss of defence traits, but the absence of megaherbivorous seed dispersers did not lead to a loss of megafaunal fruits. Instead, increases in PMHG fruit sizes may be explained by simultaneously rising temperatures, rainforest expansion, and the subsequent radiation of seed-dispersing birds and mammals. We show that the profound impact of the PMHG on plant diversification can be detected even with the overwriting of adaptations by the subsequent Late Eocene opening up of megaherbivore-associated ecological opportunities. Our study provides a quantitative, comparative framework to assess diversification and adaptation during one of the most enigmatic periods in angiosperm history. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9006001 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | The Royal Society |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-90060012022-04-19 The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms Onstein, Renske E. Kissling, W. Daniel Linder, H. Peter Proc Biol Sci Special Feature The Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs (66 Ma) led to a 25 million year gap of megaherbivores (>1000 kg) before the evolution of megaherbivorous mammals in the Late Eocene (40 Ma). The botanical consequences of this ‘Palaeocene megaherbivore gap’ (PMHG) remain poorly explored. We hypothesize that the absence of megaherbivores should result in changes in the diversification and trait evolution of associated plant lineages. We used phylogenetic time- and trait-dependent diversification models with palms (Arecaceae) and show that the PMHG was characterized by speciation slowdowns, decreased evolution of armature and increased evolution of megafaunal (≥4 cm) fruits. This suggests that the absence of browsing by megaherbivores during the PMHG may have led to a loss of defence traits, but the absence of megaherbivorous seed dispersers did not lead to a loss of megafaunal fruits. Instead, increases in PMHG fruit sizes may be explained by simultaneously rising temperatures, rainforest expansion, and the subsequent radiation of seed-dispersing birds and mammals. We show that the profound impact of the PMHG on plant diversification can be detected even with the overwriting of adaptations by the subsequent Late Eocene opening up of megaherbivore-associated ecological opportunities. Our study provides a quantitative, comparative framework to assess diversification and adaptation during one of the most enigmatic periods in angiosperm history. The Royal Society 2022-04-13 2022-04-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9006001/ /pubmed/35414237 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2633 Text en © 2022 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Special Feature Onstein, Renske E. Kissling, W. Daniel Linder, H. Peter The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms |
title | The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms |
title_full | The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms |
title_fullStr | The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms |
title_full_unstemmed | The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms |
title_short | The megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms |
title_sort | megaherbivore gap after the non-avian dinosaur extinctions modified trait evolution and diversification of tropical palms |
topic | Special Feature |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9006001/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35414237 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2633 |
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