Within-niche pace of life acceleration as a fundamental evolutionary principle: a mammal pilot test case

Q2 Agricultural and Biological Sciences
M. Clauss, D. W. Müller, D. Codron
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引用次数: 8

Abstract

Background: In the competition for resources, an evident mechanism by which a taxon or clade can prevail is by out-reproducing competitors, or, in other words, by a faster life history. Hence, for organisms that share a certain niche space, there should be strong directional evolution of life history characteristics towards faster reproduction. One reason why this mechanism is rarely considered may be the conceptualization of life history strategies as a set of trade-offs subjected to fixed overall physical laws, rather than as a set of morphophysiological adaptations that may evolve towards a higher efficiency. Hypothesis: Among extant taxa, directional evolution towards a faster reproduction should be reflected in a higher diversity in those clades of a niche that have a faster pace of life. Assuming phylogenetic inertia in the pace of life, fossil representatives of clades whose extant representatives are characterized by a slower pace of life should have been replaced in their niche by representatives of clades whose extant representatives have a faster pace of life. Data description: We use life history data from extant eutherian mammals from the PanTheria database, and examples from the mammalian fossil record, focusing particularly on large herbivores. Pilot results: We showcase examples that indicate differences in offspring production per unit time in eutherian mammals of similar niches; e.g., the sequence of gestation period length in which cattle, horses, dromedaries and okapis produce offspring of similar number, size and maturity (280, 340, 390 and 440 days, respectively) reflects the current species diversity and past displacement sequences of bovids, equids, camelids and giraffids. Conclusion: The demographic mechanism of the ‘survival of the fittest’ can be expected to have consequences on the evolution of properties determining demographic life history. Considering life history as clade-specific, and life history characteristics of extant species as a snapshot in evolutionary time, can prominently enhance interpretations of clade turnovers and species diversity.
生态位内生命加速的基本进化原理:哺乳动物试点试验案例
背景:在资源竞争中,一个分类单元或进化支系获胜的明显机制是通过比竞争对手繁殖更多,或者换句话说,通过更快的生活史。因此,对于共享一定生态位空间的生物,应该有强烈的生活史特征朝着更快繁殖的方向进化。这种机制很少被考虑的一个原因可能是生命史策略被概念化为一组服从固定的整体物理定律的权衡,而不是一组可能朝着更高效率进化的形态生理适应。假设:在现存的分类群中,朝着更快繁殖的方向进化应该反映在那些生活节奏更快的生态位分支的更高多样性上。假设在生活节奏上存在系统发育的惯性,那么那些现存代表以较慢的生活节奏为特征的进化分支的化石代表应该被那些现存代表以较快的生活节奏为特征的进化分支的代表所取代。数据描述:我们使用来自PanTheria数据库的现存真兽哺乳动物的生活史数据,以及来自哺乳动物化石记录的例子,特别关注大型食草动物。试点结果:我们展示了一些例子,表明在类似生态位的真兽哺乳动物中,每单位时间的后代产量存在差异;例如,牛、马、单峰骆驼和霍加狓产生相似数量、大小和成熟度的后代(分别为280、340、390和440天)的妊娠期长度序列反映了牛科动物、马科动物、骆驼科动物和长颈鹿当前的物种多样性和过去的迁移序列。结论:“适者生存”的人口机制可以预期对决定人口生活史的属性的演变产生影响。将生命史视为枝特异性,将现存物种的生命史特征作为进化时间的快照,可以显著增强对枝转换和物种多样性的解释。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Evolutionary Ecology Research
Evolutionary Ecology Research 生物-进化生物学
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: Evolutionary Ecology Research publishes original research contributions focusing on the overlap between ecology and evolution. Papers may treat any taxon or be general. They may be empirical, theoretical or a combination of the two. EER prefers conceptual contributions that take intellectual risks or that test ideas.
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