scholarly journals Understanding the dynamics of trends within evolving lineages

Paleobiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Alroy
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Evolutionary Trends ◽  
Practice Questions ◽  
Temporal Sequences ◽  
Meaningful Sense

The study of evolutionary trends is one of the oldest and most intriguing topics in evolutionary biology and paleobiology (McNamara 1990). Workers since Cuvier, Lyell, and Owen have wanted to know if the fossil record demonstrates “progression” within temporal sequences of related organisms. Regardless of whether changes in the average values of morphological characters are progressive in any meaningful sense, these changes are still of great interest. In practice, questions about trends are most commonly framed by paleontologists in terms of “complexity” (however defined) or body size (McShea 1998a).

Darwin's two competing phylogenetic trees: marsupials as ancestors or sister taxa?

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Archibald
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
The Other ◽  
Charles Lyell ◽  
Single Origin ◽  
Molecular Studies ◽  
Richard Owen ◽  
First Time

Studies of the origin and diversification of major groups of plants and animals are contentious topics in current evolutionary biology. This includes the study of the timing and relationships of the two major clades of extant mammals – marsupials and placentals. Molecular studies concerned with marsupial and placental origin and diversification can be at odds with the fossil record. Such studies are, however, not a recent phenomenon. Over 150 years ago Charles Darwin weighed two alternative views on the origin of marsupials and placentals. Less than a year after the publication of On the origin of species, Darwin outlined these in a letter to Charles Lyell dated 23 September 1860. The letter concluded with two competing phylogenetic diagrams. One showed marsupials as ancestral to both living marsupials and placentals, whereas the other showed a non-marsupial, non-placental as being ancestral to both living marsupials and placentals. These two diagrams are published here for the first time. These are the only such competing phylogenetic diagrams that Darwin is known to have produced. In addition to examining the question of mammalian origins in this letter and in other manuscript notes discussed here, Darwin confronted the broader issue as to whether major groups of animals had a single origin (monophyly) or were the result of “continuous creation” as advocated for some groups by Richard Owen. Charles Lyell had held similar views to those of Owen, but it is clear from correspondence with Darwin that he was beginning to accept the idea of monophyly of major groups.

Dinosaur Macroevolution and Macroecology

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 379-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger B.J. Benson
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Body Plan ◽  
Adaptive Landscape ◽  
Species Diversification ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Body Size Evolution

Dinosaurs were large-bodied land animals of the Mesozoic that gave rise to birds. They played a fundamental role in structuring Jurassic–Cretaceous ecosystems and had physiology, growth, and reproductive biology unlike those of extant animals. These features have made them targets of theoretical macroecology. Dinosaurs achieved substantial structural diversity, and their fossil record documents the evolutionary assembly of the avian body plan. Phylogeny-based research has allowed new insights into dinosaur macroevolution, including the adaptive landscape of their body size evolution, patterns of species diversification, and the origins of birds and bird-like traits. Nevertheless, much remains unknown due to incompleteness of the fossil record at both local and global scales. This presents major challenges at the frontier of paleobiological research regarding tests of macroecological hypotheses and the effects of dinosaur biology, ecology, and life history on their macroevolution.

Brains of early carnivores

Paleobiology ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Radinsky
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Biological Significance ◽  
Evolutionary Trends ◽  
Relative Brain Size

It is commonly believed that the brains of the ancestors of modern carnivores (miacids) were superior to (e.g., larger than) those of other early carnivores (creodonts and mesonychids). Examination of the fossil record of brains of early carnivores reveals no evidence to support that belief. Moreover, evolutionary trends towards increasing relative brain size and an expansion of neocortex are seen in both miacids and creodonts. The neocortex expanded in a different way in miacids than in creodonts and mesonychids (evidenced by different sulcal patterns), but the biological significance of the observed differences is unknown.

scholarly journals The relative taxonomic value of morphological characters in the genus <i>Nummulites</i> (Foraminiferida)

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Racey
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Character ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Species Discrimination ◽  
Evolutionary Trends ◽  
Ontogenetic Effects

Abstract. The main evolutionary trends in the nummulites are briefly summarised and the value of certain morphological characters in species discrimination are summarised. The degree of interdependence of each morphological character on all other characters is assessed and the characters are weighted in order of importance. Environmental and ontogenetic effects on each character are then reviewed and the characters reweighted in order of importance.

Mass extinctions alter extinction and origination dynamics with respect to body size

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1960) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro M. Monarrez ◽  
Noel A. Heim ◽  
Jonathan L. Payne
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Marine Animal ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Extinction Selectivity ◽  
Extinction Events ◽  
Mass Extinction Events ◽  
Marine Biosphere

Whether mass extinctions and their associated recoveries represent an intensification of background extinction and origination dynamics versus a separate macroevolutionary regime remains a central debate in evolutionary biology. The previous focus has been on extinction, but origination dynamics may be equally or more important for long-term evolutionary outcomes. The evolution of animal body size is an ideal process to test for differences in macroevolutionary regimes, as body size is easily determined, comparable across distantly related taxa and scales with organismal traits. Here, we test for shifts in selectivity between background intervals and the ‘Big Five’ mass extinction events using capture–mark–recapture models. Our body-size data cover 10 203 fossil marine animal genera spanning 10 Linnaean classes with occurrences ranging from Early Ordovician to Late Pleistocene (485–1 Ma). Most classes exhibit differences in both origination and extinction selectivity between background intervals and mass extinctions, with the direction of selectivity varying among classes and overall exhibiting stronger selectivity during origination after mass extinction than extinction during the mass extinction. Thus, not only do mass extinction events shift the marine biosphere into a new macroevolutionary regime, the dynamics of recovery from mass extinction also appear to play an underappreciated role in shaping the biosphere in their aftermath.

Bivalve systematics during the 20th century

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 1119-1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay A. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Molecular Systematics ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Invertebrate Paleontology

Over the past 75 years, the higher-level taxonomy of bivalves has received less attention than that of their fellow molluscs, gastropods. The publication of the bivalve volumes of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology in 1969 was not followed by an explosion of study into the evolution of bivalves; rather, with only one or two exceptions, bivalve workers were noticeably absent from the cladistic and molecular revolutions that were taking place during the 1970s and 1980s, even as gastropods received considerable attention. Over the past ten years, cladistics and molecular systematics have begun to be applied to solve problems of bivalve evolutionary biology. These studies, most of which have been undertaken by paleontologists, have halted the stagnation in bivalve systematics. Bivalve systematics looks to have an exciting future, as the excellent fossil record of the Bivalvia will be used in conjunction with cladistics and molecular systematics to solve problems in not just bivalve evolution but evolutionary biology in general.

scholarly journals Allosorex stenodus Fejfar, 1966 (Eulipotyphla, Soricidae): re-description of type material and re-interpretation of its fossil record

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-98
Author(s):  
Oldřich Fejfar ◽  
Wighart v. Koenigswald ◽  
Martin Sabol
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Microstructure Analysis ◽  
Karst Area ◽  
Eastern Asia ◽  
Enamel Microstructure ◽  
Fossil Remains ◽  
Karst Areas ◽  
Taxonomical Status

The original fossil record of Allosorex stenodus Fejfar, 1966 from Ivanovce (late Ruscinian, MN 15b) is redescribed and supplemented by the description of so far unpublished fossil remains, including upper dentition (P4 and M3) and a humerus fragment as well as the enamel microstructure analysis of m2. Based on the critical evaluation of other fossil remains from sites in Romania, Hungary, and France, the Ivanovce fossils are so far the only unquestionable recorded finds of A. stenodus in Europe, which can be considered as a local early Pliocene (MN 15) endemic species. Its occurrence is connected with the forested karst area along a broad valley of “pre-Váh” River, ecologically and climatically resembling the environment of modern karst areas in south-eastern Asia. Based on enamel microstructure analysis and unique mandible and dentition morphological characters, a separate taxonomical status of the species is also discussed.

scholarly journals Evolution of body size in anteaters and sloths (Xenarthra, Pilosa): phylogeny, metabolism, diet and substrate preferences

2015 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Toledo ◽  
M.S. Bargo ◽  
S.F. Vizcaíno ◽  
G. De Iuliis ◽  
F. Pujos
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Phylogenetic Pattern ◽  
Substrate Preferences ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Main Factor

ABSTRACTPilosa include anteaters (Vermilingua) and sloths (Folivora). Modern tree sloths are represented by two genera, Bradypus and Choloepus (both around 4–6 kg), whereas the fossil record is very diverse, with approximately 90 genera ranging in age from the Oligocene to the early Holocene. Fossil sloths include four main clades, Megalonychidae, Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae, and Mylodontidae, ranging in size from tens of kilograms to several tons. Modern Vermilingua are represented by three genera, Cyclopes, Tamandua and Myrmecophaga, with a size range from 0.25 kg to about 30 kg, and their fossil record is scarce and fragmentary. The dependence of the body size on phylogenetic pattern of Pilosa is analysed here, according to current cladistic hypotheses. Orthonormal decomposition analysis and Abouheif C-mean were performed. Statistics were significantly different from the null-hypothesis, supporting the hypothesis that body size variation correlates with the phylogenetic pattern. Most of the correlation is concentrated within Vermilingua, and less within Mylodontidae, Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae and Megalonychidae. Influence of basal metabolic rate (BMR), dietary habits and substrate preference is discussed. In anteaters, specialised insectivory is proposed as the primary constraint on body size evolution. In the case of sloths, mylodontids, megatheriids and nothrotheriids show increasing body size through time; whereas megalonychids retain a wider diversity of sizes. Interplay between BMR and dietary habits appears to be the main factor in shaping evolution of sloth body size.

Completeness of the fossil record: Estimating losses due to small body size

Geology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger A. Cooper ◽  
Phillip A. Maxwell ◽  
James S. Crampton ◽  
Alan G. Beu ◽  
Craig M. Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Small Body Size

Molecular and morphological characterisation of Laimaphelenchus spiflatus n. sp. (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) from China

Nematology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 843-853
Author(s):  
Jianfeng Gu ◽  
Munawar Maria ◽  
Yiwu Fang ◽  
Xianfeng Chen ◽  
Lele Liu
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
The Other ◽  
Morphometric Data ◽  
Lateral Field ◽  
Chinese Pine ◽  
Lateral Lines ◽  
Genomic Regions

Summary Laimaphelenchus spiflatus n. sp. isolated from declining Chinese pine, Pinus tabuliformis, is described and illustrated. The new species can be characterised by its relatively long body size of 1150 ± 108 (976-1437) μm for females and 1092 ± 78.6 (905-1235) μm for males, lateral field with four lines, females with a long vulval flap, and tail conoid, slightly ventrally curved and ending in a stalk having 8-12 projections when observed with SEM. Males are common, with 27.3 (23.4-28.8) μm long spicules having blunt (not well-developed) condylus and rostrum and truncate simple distal tip, and four caudal papillae. By having a vulval flap, four lateral lines and tail end with a stalk (without four tubercles), the new species comes close to L. preissii, L. simlaensis, and L. unituberculus, but can be differentiated from them by morphological characters and morphometric data. In phylogenetic analyses using near full length 18S and D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S rDNA, Laimaphelenchus spiflatus n. sp. appeared as an independent lineage separated from the other Laimaphelenchus spp. that are currently sequenced for their aforementioned genomic regions.

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