The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolution

Geographic range size and abundance are important determinants of extinction risk in fossil and extant taxa. However, the relationship between these variables and extinction risk has not been tested extensively during evolutionarily quiescent times of low extinction and speciation in the fossil reco...

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Main Authors: Casey, MM, Saupe, EE, Lieberman, BS
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2020
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author Casey, MM
Saupe, EE
Lieberman, BS
author_facet Casey, MM
Saupe, EE
Lieberman, BS
author_sort Casey, MM
collection OXFORD
description Geographic range size and abundance are important determinants of extinction risk in fossil and extant taxa. However, the relationship between these variables and extinction risk has not been tested extensively during evolutionarily quiescent times of low extinction and speciation in the fossil record. Here we examine the influence of geographic range size and abundance on extinction risk during the late Paleozoic (Mississippian-Permian), a time of sluggish evolution when global rates of origination and extinction were roughly half those of other Paleozoic intervals. Analyses used spatiotemporal occurrences for 164 brachiopod species from the North American midcontinent. We found abundance to be a better predictor of extinction risk than measures of geographic range size. Moreover, species exhibited reductions in abundance before their extinction but did not display contractions in geographic range size. The weak relationship between geographic range size and extinction in this time and place may reflect the relative preponderance of larger-ranged taxa combined with the physiographic conditions of the region that allowed for easy habitat tracking that dampened both extinction and speciation. These conditions led to a prolonged period (19-25 Myr) during which standard macroevolutionary rules did not apply.
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spelling oxford-uuid:1f7b99c3-4ae8-4709-a025-6513859a63bf2022-03-26T11:22:08ZThe effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolutionJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1f7b99c3-4ae8-4709-a025-6513859a63bfEnglishSymplectic ElementsCambridge University Press2020Casey, MMSaupe, EELieberman, BSGeographic range size and abundance are important determinants of extinction risk in fossil and extant taxa. However, the relationship between these variables and extinction risk has not been tested extensively during evolutionarily quiescent times of low extinction and speciation in the fossil record. Here we examine the influence of geographic range size and abundance on extinction risk during the late Paleozoic (Mississippian-Permian), a time of sluggish evolution when global rates of origination and extinction were roughly half those of other Paleozoic intervals. Analyses used spatiotemporal occurrences for 164 brachiopod species from the North American midcontinent. We found abundance to be a better predictor of extinction risk than measures of geographic range size. Moreover, species exhibited reductions in abundance before their extinction but did not display contractions in geographic range size. The weak relationship between geographic range size and extinction in this time and place may reflect the relative preponderance of larger-ranged taxa combined with the physiographic conditions of the region that allowed for easy habitat tracking that dampened both extinction and speciation. These conditions led to a prolonged period (19-25 Myr) during which standard macroevolutionary rules did not apply.
spellingShingle Casey, MM
Saupe, EE
Lieberman, BS
The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolution
title The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolution
title_full The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolution
title_fullStr The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolution
title_full_unstemmed The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolution
title_short The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of "sluggish"' evolution
title_sort effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of sluggish evolution
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