Macroevolution

From more to fewer? Testing an allegedly pervasive trend in the evolution of morphological structure

by Andy Purvis

Correlates of species richness in mammals: body size, life history, and ecology

by Andy Purvis

Evolution: opportunity versus innovation

by Andy Purvis

Phylogenetically nested comparisons for testing correlates of species richness: a simulation study of continuous variables

by Andy Purvis

Power of eight tree shape statistics to detect nonrandom diversification: a comparison by simulation of two models of cladogenesis

by Andy Purvis

Phylogeny imbalance: taxonomic level matters

by Andy Purvis

Are most species small? Not within species-level phylogenies

by Andy Purvis

Interplay between changing climate and species' ecology drives macroevolutionary dynamics

by Andy Purvis

Ezard, T.H.G., Aze, T., Pearson, P.N. and Purvis, A. 2011: Interplay between changing climate and species' ecology drives macroevolutionary dynamics. Science 332, 349-351.

Ecological change provokes speciation and extinction, but our knowledge of the interplay among the biotic and abiotic... more Ecological change provokes speciation and extinction, but our knowledge of the interplay among the biotic and abiotic drivers of macroevolution remains limited. Using the unparalleled fossil record of Cenozoic macroperforate planktonic foraminifera, we demonstrate that macroevolutionary dynamics depend on the interaction between species’ ecology and the changing climate. This interplay drives diversification but differs between speciation probability and extinction risk: Speciation was more strongly shaped by diversity dependence than by climate change, whereas the reverse was true for extinction. Crucially, no single ecology was optimal in all environments, and species
with distinct ecologies had significantly different probabilities of speciation and extinction. The ensuing macroevolutionary dynamics depend fundamentally on the ecological structure of species’ assemblages.

Testing the accuracy of methods for reconstructing ancestral states of continuous characters

by Andy Purvis

Evaluating phylogenetic tree shape: two modifications to Fusco & Cronk's method

by Andy Purvis

The delayed rise of present-day mammals

by Andy Purvis

Large mammal turnover pulses correlated to the latest Neogene glacial trends in western Europe

by José Luis Prado

Azanza, B. M.T. Alberdi and J.L. Prado. 1999. Large mammal turnover pulses correlated to the latest Neogene glacial trends in western Europe. Rev. Soc. Geol. Esp., 12(1), 113-122. España

Patterns of large mammal species diversity and tumover in Northwestern Mediterranean area were assessed over the last... more Patterns of large mammal species diversity and tumover in Northwestern Mediterranean area were assessed over the last 6 Ma. Two alternative approaches are considered here based on unequal (biochronological units) and equal time intervals, which were established by multivariate methods using similarity and parsimony respectively. Data quality was estimated in order to evaluate the constraints of the patterns due to a biased, incomplete record in terrestrial deposits. Diversity was standardised by standing richness which caIculated species richness at the midpoint of a time interval. Faunal tumover through time was measured as rate quotient normalised for the difference in duration and number of contained taxa among fue time intervals. The patterns resulting from both approaches are very similar. The discrepancies between fuem are higher during fue Villafranchian and the Ruscinian, because selected time intervals are very dissimilar and large mammallocality age determinatíons are scarce. Three biotic events show significant and robust turnover with respect to sampling: the tumover at the Mio-Pliocene transition, the dispersal event at the beginning of the Villafranchian and the turno ver around 1.0 Ma. These events are coincident in time with the major pulses of the latest Neogene glacial trend.

Patterns of body size changes in fossil and living Equini (Perissodactyla)

by José Luis Prado

Alberdi M.T., J.L. Prado and E. Ortiz Jaureguizar. 1995. Patterns of body size changes in fossil and living Equini (Perissodactyla). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, London, 54: 349-370

How did past environmental change affect carnivores diversity and home-range-size in Spain

by José Luis Prado

Alberdi M.T., J.L. Prado, E. Cerdeño & B. Azanza. 2012. How did past environmental change affect carnivores diversity and home-range-size in Spain. In:Young S.S. & S.E. Silvern (Eds) International Perspectives on Global Environmental Change 488 p. InTech. pp. 107-120.

Mammal turnover in the Quaternary of Argentina

by José Luis Prado

Alberdi, M. T.; F. P. Bonadonna; E. Cerdeño; J. L. Prado; B. Sánchez and E. P. Tonni. 1993. Mammal turnover in the Quaternary of Argentina. Docum. Lab. Géol. Lyon 125:17-27. France

Historical Determinants of Mammal Diversity in Africa: Evolution of Mammalian Body Mass Distribution in Africa and South America During Neogene and Quarternary Times

by José Luis Prado

Nieto, M., J. Hortal, C. Martínez-Maza, J. Morales, E. Ortiz-Jaureguizar, P. Pelaez-Campomanes, M. Pickford, J. L. Prado, J. Rodríguez, B. Senut, D. Soria and S. Varela. 2005. Historical Determinants of Mammal Diversity in Africa: Evolution of Mammalian Body Mass Distribution in Africa and South America During Neogene and Quarternary Times. In: B. A. Huber, B. J. Sinclair & K.-H. Lampe (Eds). African Biodiversity. Molecules, Organisms, Ecosystems. Springer US. Pag. Tot: 439, pp: 287-295

Local mammalian communities in Africa present the highest species richness in the world, only paralleled by some... more Local mammalian communities in Africa present the highest species richness in the world, only paralleled by some communities in the Oriental biogeographic region. Differences in mammalian species richness are especially outstanding when compared with South American communities, despite their similar latitudinal position and regional species richness. Recent study has shown that these differences are not only related to contemporary determinants but also to biogeographic-historic factors, which acted on the composition of the regional pool of species. One of the main differences in composition between the two regions relates to the high diversification of large mammals in Africa, which greatly contributes to the high values of local community richness in this region. The absence of extant large mammals in the South American region has been proposed to result from Pleistocene- Holocene extinctions, which affected large mammals all over the world. However, a gradual pattern of decrease in the abundance of large mammal species can be appreciated in almost all regions except Africa since the late Miocene and through the Pliocene. To test these hypotheses we compare the patterns of macromammal body mass distribution - at regional and local scales - in the two regions over the past 20 million years and relate the observed changes to major geological events.

Patterns of body-size change in large mammals during the Late Cenozois in the Northwestern Mediterranean

by José Luis Prado

Prado, J. L.; M. T. Alberdi; B. Azanza and Rodriguez. 2004. Patterns of body-size change in mammals during the late Cenozoic in the Northwesterns Mediterranean. En: Miscelánea en homenaje a Emilano Aguirre, editado por E. Baquedano & S. Rubio. Zona Arqueológica, Nro. 4, volumen 2 – Paleontología, Museo Arqueológico Regional, Madrid, Pag tot: 623, pp: 464-479, Madrid

We have analysed body-size patterns in 12 families of mammals recorded in the Northwestern Mediterranean area from the... more We have analysed body-size patterns in 12 families of mammals recorded in the Northwestern Mediterranean area from the late Miocene to the Holocene. Data were obtained from selected localities in Spain, France and Italy and mammalian records were ordered in nine successive time intervals. We used body mass, estimated from dental and post-cranial measurements, to represent body-size. Four major immigration and/or faunal turnover episodes took place in the Northwestern Mediterranean area from late Miocene to Holocene: the Ruscinian turnover, the Equus-elephant event, the “Wolf” event, and the Galerian turnover. Significant body-size changes occurred in at least two of these episodes. The emerging pattern suggests that changes in the mean body-size of groups was mainly the result of migration of new species of larger size. However, variations in body-size within evolutionary lines were coincident with periods of major climatic change, suggesting that climate, too, played an important role in body-size change. The data did not provide evidence for the existence of a common pattern of size change in the 12 mammalian families studied. The pattern of body-size distribution remained constant throughout the late Turolian and Ruscinian (around 6 to 4 Ma), probably due to climate stability and the predominance of subtropical conditions. A significant change in body-size occurred during the early Villafranchian (around 3 Ma) and at the beginning of the Galerian (around 1 Ma).

Análisis de las Comunidades de Mamíferos continentales del Plio-Pleistoceno de la Región Pampeana y su comparación con las del  área del Mediterráneo occidental.

by José Luis Prado

Ortiz Jaureguizar, E.; Prado, J.L y Alberdi, M. T. 1995. Análisis de las Comunidades de Mamíferos continentales del Plio-Pleistoceno de la Región Pampeana y su comparación con las del  área del Mediterráneo occidental. En: Alberdi, M.T., Leone, G. y Tonni, E. P. (Eds) “Evolución biológica y climática de la Región Pampeana durante los últimos 5 millones de años. Un ensayo de correlación con el Mediterráneo occidental”. Monografías del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Vol. 17, tot pag: 423, pp:385-406. Madrid, España.

The analysis of the evolutionary mammalian patterns in Pampean and occidental Mediterranean regions point out two... more The analysis of the evolutionary mammalian patterns in Pampean and occidental Mediterranean regions point out two different turnover times. We suppose these major faunistíc turnovers may be linked to climatíc events and consequently we try to compare these biotic events with global climatic changes. We correlate the first turnover to the major climatic deterioration placed about 2.6-2.4 Ma. In the Pampean Region this event marks the beginning of the main decrease of the percentage of autochthonous laxa between Chapadmalalan and Uquian ages. This event is correlated in Europe with the dispersal event from North America, Asia and Africa, called Elephant-Equus event. The second turnover took place between Uquian and Ensenadan Ages in the Pampean Region, and this may be linked to the beginning of the "Glacial Pleistocene", about 1.0-0.8 Ma. In occidental Mediterranean Region this event is marked by a practically total rejuvenation of the fauna. The main difference between both patterns is the high rate of extinction at the end of the Pleislocene in South America.

Mammal community and global change during Late Pleistocene-Holocene in the Pampean Region (Argentina)

by José Luis Prado

Prado, J.L. Azanza, B. Alberdi, M.T. 2001. Mammal community and global change during Late Pleistocene-Holocene in the Pampean Region (Argentina). In: Herausgegeben von Daniel Büchner und dem Freiburger Institut für Paläowissenschaftliche Studien (Eds) Studien in Memoriam Wilhelm Schüle. Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH- Rahden/Westf. Tot pag. 462, pp. 362-375

Persistent predator–prey dynamics revealed by mass extinction

by Lauren Sallan