Body size, sampling completeness, and extinction risk in the marine fossil record

Paleobiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan L. Payne ◽  
Noel A. Heim
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
The Body ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Higher Taxa ◽  
Size Bias ◽  
Stratigraphic Ranges

AbstractLarger body size has long been assumed to correlate with greater risk of extinction, helping to shape body-size distributions across the tree of life, but a lack of comprehensive size data for fossil taxa has left this hypothesis untested for most higher taxa across the vast majority of evolutionary time. Here we assess the relationship between body size and extinction using a data set comprising the body sizes, stratigraphic ranges, and occurrence patterns of 9408 genera of fossil marine animals spanning eight Linnaean classes across the past 485 Myr. We find that preferential extinction of smaller-bodied genera within classes is substantially more common than expected due to chance and that there is little evidence for preferential extinction of larger-bodied genera. Using a capture–mark–recapture analysis, we find that this size bias of extinction persists even after accounting for a pervasive bias against the sampling of smaller-bodied genera within classes. The size bias in extinction also persists after including geographic range as an additional predictor of extinction, indicating that correlation between body size and geographic range does not provide a simple explanation for the association between size and extinction. Regardless of the underlying causes, the preferential extinction of smaller-bodied genera across many higher taxa and most of geologic time indicates that the selective loss of large-bodied animals is the exception, rather than the rule, in the evolution of marine animals.

scholarly journals Biological and extrinsic correlates of extinction risk in Chinese lizards

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxi Zhong ◽  
Chuanwu Chen ◽  
Yanping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Extrinsic Factors

Abstract China is a country with one of the most species rich reptile faunas in the world. However, nearly a quarter of Chinese lizard species assessed by the China Biodiversity Red List are threatened. Nevertheless, to date, no study has explicitly examined the pattern and processes of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards. In this study, we conducted the first comparative phylogenetic analysis of extinction risk in Chinese lizards. We addressed the following three questions: 1) What is the pattern of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards? 2) Which species traits and extrinsic factors are related to their extinction risk? 3) How can we protect Chinese lizards based on our results? We collected data on ten species traits (body size, clutch size, geographic range size, activity time, reproductive mode, habitat specialization, habitat use, leg development, maximum elevation, and elevation range) and seven extrinsic factors (mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, mean annual solar insolation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), human footprint, human population density, and human exploitation). After phylogenetic correction, these variables were used separately and in combination to assess their associations with extinction risk. We found that Chinese lizards with small geographic range, large body size, high habitat specialization, and living in high precipitation areas were vulnerable to extinction. Conservation priority should thus be given to species with the above extinction-prone traits so as to effectively protect Chinese lizards. Preventing future habitat destruction should also be a primary focus of management efforts because species with small range size and high habitat specialization are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss.

Biotic influences on species duration: interactions between traits in marine molluscs

Paleobiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Crampton ◽  
Roger A. Cooper ◽  
Alan G. Beu ◽  
Michael Foote ◽  
Bruce A. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Marine Molluscs ◽  
Larval Type ◽  
Feeding Type ◽  
Life Mode

We analyze relationships among a range of ecological and biological traits—geographic range size, body size, life mode, larval type, and feeding type—in order to identify those traits that are associated significantly with species duration in New Zealand Cenozoic marine molluscs, during a time of background extinction. Using log-linear modeling, we find that bivalves have only a small number of simple, two-way associations between the studied traits and duration. In contrast, gastropods display more complex interactions involving three-way associations between traits, a pattern that suggests greater macroecological complexity of gastropods. This is not an artifact caused by the larger number of gastropods than bivalves in our data set. We used stratified randomized resampling of families to test for associations between traits that might result from shared inheritance rather than ecological trait interactions; we found no evidence of phylogenetic effects in any associations examined. The relationships revealed by our study should serve to constrain the range of possible biological mechanisms that underlie these relationships. As previously observed, two-way associations are present between large geographic range and increased duration, and between large geographic range and large body size, in both bivalves and gastropods. In gastropods, planktotrophic larval type is associated with large range size through a three-way interaction that also involves duration; there is no direct association of larval type and geographic range. Gastropods also display two-way associations between duration and life mode, and duration and feeding type. We note that in gastropods, an infaunal life mode is associated with large range size, whereas in bivalves infaunality is associated with reduced range size.

scholarly journals Allometry in desert ant locomotion (Cataglyphis albicans and Cataglyphis bicolor) – does body size matter?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Tross ◽  
Harald Wolf ◽  
Sarah Elisabeth Pfeffer
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Walking Speed ◽  
The Body ◽  
Size Spectrum ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Walking Speeds ◽  
Size Matter ◽  
Cataglyphis Bicolor

Desert ants show a large range of adaptations to their habitats. They can reach extremely high running speeds, for example, to shorten heat stress during foraging trips. It has recently been examined how fast walking speeds are achieved in different desert ant species. It is intriguing in this context that some species exhibit distinct intraspecific size differences. We therefore performed a complete locomotion analysis over the entire size spectrum of the species Cataglyphis bicolor, and we compared this intraspecific data set with that of the allometrically similar species Cataglyphis albicans. Emphasis was on the allometry of locomotion: we considered the body size of each animal and analysed the data in terms of relative walking speed. Body size was observed to affect walking parameters, gait patterns and phase relations in terms of absolute walking speed. Unexpectedly, on a relative scale, all ants tended to show the same overall locomotion strategy at slow walking speeds, and significant differences occurred only between C. albicans and C. bicolor at high walking speeds. Our analysis revealed that C. bicolor ants use the same overall strategy across all body sizes, with small ants reaching the highest walking speeds (up to 80 body lengths s−1) by increasing their stride lengths and incorporating aerial phases. By comparison, C. albicans reached high walking speeds mainly by a high synchrony of leg movement, lower swing phase durations and higher stride frequencies ranging up to 40 Hz.

scholarly journals Predicting Age in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Females to Monitor Changes in Transmission Potential

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Jeffrey Gutiérrez ◽  
Michael Riehle ◽  
Kathleen Walker ◽  
Kacey Ernst ◽  
Goggy Davidowitz
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
The Body ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Northern Edge ◽  
Bg Sentinel

Abstract Background: The Aedes aegypti mosquito is a vector of several viruses including dengue, chikungunya, zika, and yellow fever. Vector surveillance and control are the primary methods used for the control and prevention of disease transmission, however, there is an overreliance on measures of population abundance in surveillance programs as a trigger for initiating control activities. At the northern edge of Ae. aegypti’s geographic range, survival seems to be the factor limiting disease transmission. In this study, we sought to test the utility of using body size as an entomological index to surveil changes in the age structure of field collected, female Aedes aegypti. Methods: We collected female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes using BG sentinel traps in three cities at the northern edge of their geographic range. Collections took place during their active season over the course of three years. Female wing size was measured as an estimate of body size and reproductive status was characterized by examining ovary tracheation. Chronological age was determined by measuring transcript abundance of an age-dependent gene. These data were then combined with weather data from the estimated larval development period and adulthood (one week prior to capture). Two sources of weather data were tested to see which was more appropriate for evaluating impacts on mosquito physiology. All variables were then used to test models for predicting age via structural equation modeling. Results: We found that there was a bias in the body size of mosquitoes collected alive from the BG sentinel traps that favored large females. In comparing city-specific NOAA weather data and site-specific data from HOBO remote temperature and humidity loggers, we found that HOBO data was more tightly associated with body size. We found that body size itself was not associated with age. Of all the variables measured, we found that temperature during development, body size, and relative humidity in the one week prior to capture produced the strongest model for predicting age. The strength of models improved drastically when testing one city at a time, with Hermosillo having the strongest model for predicting age.Conclusions: Body size increased the strength of weather-based models for predicting variation in age. Importantly, we found that variability of the factors measured was greater within cities than between cities, meaning that age predictions must be made on a city by city basis. These results contribute to efforts to use weather forecasts to predict changes in the probability of disease transmission by mosquito vectors.

scholarly journals Shifting body weight-fecundity relationship in a capital breeder: maternal effects on egg numbers of the autumnal moth under field conditions

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Heisswolf ◽  
T. Klemola ◽  
T. Andersson ◽  
K. Ruohomäki
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Body Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Residual Variance ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Potential Fecundity ◽  
Autumnal Moth ◽  
Egg Number ◽  
Pupal Mass ◽  
Parent Generation

AbstractIn the literature, various environmental factors are described as being capable of influencing the reproductive output of insect females irrespective of their body size. Still, female body size or weight is widely used as a proxy for fecundity. In the present study, a seven-year data set on the autumnal moth, Epirrita autumnata (Borkhausen) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), was used to analyze whether the body weight-fecundity relationship in this capital breeding, cyclic forest defoliating lepidopteran is constant across years. Ambient temperature conditions and density of conspecifics during larval development, the length of the pupal period, as well as moth densities in the parent generation were examined as factors capable of modifying the body weight-fecundity relationship. While the regression slope of potential fecundity (total egg numbers per female) on pupal mass was constant across years, the mean total egg number per given body weight (the regression intercept) was significantly different between years. This residual variance in egg numbers after controlling for the effect of pupal mass was best explained by the pooled geometrid density (autumnal and winter moths) in the parent generation. The total egg number per given body weight decreased with increasing density of geometrid moths in the parent generation. Thus, maternal density effects on offspring fecundity were found in this system. Their rather weak nature suggests, however, that this maternal effect alone does not have the potential of causing cyclic population dynamics in the autumnal moth.

scholarly journals Long-term differences in extinction risk among the seven forms of rarity

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1749) ◽  
pp. 4969-4976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Harnik ◽  
Carl Simpson ◽  
Jonathan L. Payne
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Global Database ◽  
The Past ◽  
Geographic Range Size ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Habitat Breadth

Rarity is widely used to predict the vulnerability of species to extinction. Species can be rare in markedly different ways, but the relative impacts of these different forms of rarity on extinction risk are poorly known and cannot be determined through observations of species that are not yet extinct. The fossil record provides a valuable archive with which we can directly determine which aspects of rarity lead to the greatest risk. Previous palaeontological analyses confirm that rarity is associated with extinction risk, but the relative contributions of different types of rarity to extinction risk remain unknown because their impacts have never been examined simultaneously. Here, we analyse a global database of fossil marine animals spanning the past 500 million years, examining differential extinction with respect to multiple rarity types within each geological stage. We observe systematic differences in extinction risk over time among marine genera classified according to their rarity. Geographic range played a primary role in determining extinction, and habitat breadth a secondary role, whereas local abundance had little effect. These results suggest that current reductions in geographic range size will lead to pronounced increases in long-term extinction risk even if local populations are relatively large at present.

scholarly journals Why do bugs perish? Range size and local vulnerability traits as surrogates of Odonata extinction risk

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1924) ◽  
pp. 20192645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Rocha-Ortega ◽  
Pilar Rodríguez ◽  
Jason Bried ◽  
John Abbott ◽  
Alex Córdoba-Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Volcanic System ◽  
Thermal Limits ◽  
Geographic Range Size ◽  
Insect Decline ◽  
Local Extirpation

Despite claims of an insect decline worldwide, our understanding of extinction risk in insects is incomplete. Using bionomic data of all odonate (603 dragonflies and damselflies) North American species, we assessed (i) regional extinction risk and whether this is related to local extirpation; (ii) whether these two patterns are similar altitudinally and latitudinally; and (iii) the areas of conservation concern. We used geographic range size as a predictor of regional extinction risk and body size, thermal limits and habitat association as predictors of local extirpation. We found that (i) greater regional extinction risk is related to narrow thermal limits, lotic habitat use and large body size (this in damselflies but not dragonflies); (ii) southern species are more climate tolerant but with more limited geographic range size than northern species; and (iii) two priority areas for odonate conservation are the cold temperate to sub-boreal northeastern USA and the transversal neo-volcanic system. Our approach can be used to estimate insect extinction risk as it compensates for the lack of abundance data.

scholarly journals Different increase rate in body mass of two marten species due to climate warming potentially reinforces interspecific competition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Wereszczuk ◽  
Tim R. Hofmeester ◽  
Alexander Csanády ◽  
Tomislav Dumić ◽  
Morten Elmeros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
The Body ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Pine Marten ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Geographical Patterns ◽  
Pine Martens ◽  
Over Time

AbstractMany species show spatial variation in body size, often associated with climatic patterns. Studying species with contrasting geographical patterns related to climate might help elucidate the role of different drivers. We analysed changes in the body mass of two sympatric medium-sized carnivores—pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina)—across Europe over 59 years. The body mass of pine marten increased with decreasing latitude, whereas stone marten body mass varied in a more complex pattern across its geographic range. Over time, the average body mass of pine martens increased by 255 g (24%), while stone marten by 86 g (6%). The greatest increase of body mass along both martens’ geographic range was observed in central and southern Europe, where both species occur in sympatry. The body mass increase slowed down over time, especially in allopatric regions. The average pine/stone marten body mass ratio increased from 0.87 in 1960 to 0.99 in 2019, potentially strengthening the competition between them. Thus, a differential response in body size to several drivers over time might have led to an adaptive advantage for pine martens. This highlights the importance of considering different responses among interacting species when studying animal adaptation to climate change.

Birds, body size and the threat of extinction

1995 ◽  
Vol 347 (1320) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
The Body ◽  
Island Endemic ◽  
Global Extinction ◽  
Body Sizes

A relation between body size and threat of extinction for animal species has often been hypothesized. However, evidence for the form of the relation is equivocal, and studies can be found reporting positive, negative, or no relation between body size and extinction risk. One way to assess this relation is to compare the body sizes of species considered to be globally threatened with those of species considered to be less at risk. We adopt this approach for birds, considering a bird to be in danger of global extinction if it was listed by Collar & Andrew (ICBP technical publication no. 8 (1988)). Threatened species of bird are, on average, larger-bodied than non-threatened species. This difference is not due to size differences between island endemic species and species with continental distributions. Island endemic and continental species show no consistent body size differences. The relation between body mass and threat of extinction is not due to differences between higher taxa: within taxa, there is still a relation between body size and extinction threat. We present evidence that the degree of threat faced by endangered species may also be related to body mass. We discuss possible explanations for the observed patterns, and conclude that a genuine tendency for large-bodied birds to be more at risk from extinction than small-bodied species is the most likely.

The Body Size of Headstarted and Wild Juvenile European Pond Turtles (Emys orbicularis)

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Sławomir Mitrus ◽  
Bartłomiej Najbar ◽  
Adam Kotowicz ◽  
Anna Najbar
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Emys Orbicularis
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