Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Comparative genomic data among organisms allow the reconstruction of their phylogenies and evolutionary time scales. Molecular timings have been recently used to suggest that environmental global change have shaped the evolutionary h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2004-04-01
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| Series: | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/4/11 |
| _version_ | 1811190974348525568 |
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| author | Vizcaíno Sergio F Delsuc Frédéric Douzery Emmanuel JP |
| author_facet | Vizcaíno Sergio F Delsuc Frédéric Douzery Emmanuel JP |
| author_sort | Vizcaíno Sergio F |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Comparative genomic data among organisms allow the reconstruction of their phylogenies and evolutionary time scales. Molecular timings have been recently used to suggest that environmental global change have shaped the evolutionary history of diverse terrestrial organisms. Living xenarthrans (armadillos, anteaters and sloths) constitute an ideal model for studying the influence of past environmental changes on species diversification. Indeed, extant xenarthran species are relicts from an evolutionary radiation enhanced by their isolation in South America during the Tertiary era, a period for which major climate variations and tectonic events are relatively well documented.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We applied a Bayesian approach to three nuclear genes in order to relax the molecular clock assumption while accounting for differences in evolutionary dynamics among genes and incorporating paleontological uncertainties. We obtained a molecular time scale for the evolution of extant xenarthrans and other placental mammals. Divergence time estimates provide substantial evidence for contemporaneous diversification events among independent xenarthran lineages. This correlated pattern of diversification might possibly relate to major environmental changes that occurred in South America during the Cenozoic.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The observed synchronicity between planetary and biological events suggests that global change played a crucial role in shaping the evolutionary history of extant xenarthrans. Our findings open ways to test this hypothesis further in other South American mammalian endemics like hystricognath rodents, platyrrhine primates, and didelphid marsupials.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:58:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7a0ba1e7f1204ac3bc8da9235b0a0eac |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:58:19Z |
| publishDate | 2004-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-7a0ba1e7f1204ac3bc8da9235b0a0eac2022-12-22T04:17:04ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482004-04-01411110.1186/1471-2148-4-11Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthransVizcaíno Sergio FDelsuc FrédéricDouzery Emmanuel JP<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Comparative genomic data among organisms allow the reconstruction of their phylogenies and evolutionary time scales. Molecular timings have been recently used to suggest that environmental global change have shaped the evolutionary history of diverse terrestrial organisms. Living xenarthrans (armadillos, anteaters and sloths) constitute an ideal model for studying the influence of past environmental changes on species diversification. Indeed, extant xenarthran species are relicts from an evolutionary radiation enhanced by their isolation in South America during the Tertiary era, a period for which major climate variations and tectonic events are relatively well documented.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We applied a Bayesian approach to three nuclear genes in order to relax the molecular clock assumption while accounting for differences in evolutionary dynamics among genes and incorporating paleontological uncertainties. We obtained a molecular time scale for the evolution of extant xenarthrans and other placental mammals. Divergence time estimates provide substantial evidence for contemporaneous diversification events among independent xenarthran lineages. This correlated pattern of diversification might possibly relate to major environmental changes that occurred in South America during the Cenozoic.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The observed synchronicity between planetary and biological events suggests that global change played a crucial role in shaping the evolutionary history of extant xenarthrans. Our findings open ways to test this hypothesis further in other South American mammalian endemics like hystricognath rodents, platyrrhine primates, and didelphid marsupials.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/4/11MammalsXenarthransEvolutionPalaeontologyPhylogenyRelaxed molecular clockBayesian datingGlobal changeTertiarySouth America |
| spellingShingle | Vizcaíno Sergio F Delsuc Frédéric Douzery Emmanuel JP Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans BMC Evolutionary Biology Mammals Xenarthrans Evolution Palaeontology Phylogeny Relaxed molecular clock Bayesian dating Global change Tertiary South America |
| title | Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans |
| title_full | Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans |
| title_fullStr | Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans |
| title_short | Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans |
| title_sort | influence of tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of south american mammals a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans |
| topic | Mammals Xenarthrans Evolution Palaeontology Phylogeny Relaxed molecular clock Bayesian dating Global change Tertiary South America |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/4/11 |
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