BMC ecology and evolution最新文献

{"title":"There and back again: historical biogeography of neotropical magnolias based on high-throughput sequencing.","authors":"Salvador Guzman-Diaz, Fabián Augusto Aldaba Núñez, Emily Veltjen, Pieter Asselman, José Esteban Jiménez, Jorge Valdés Sánchez, Guillermo Pino Infante, Ricardo Callejas Posada, José Antonio Vázquez García, Isabel Larridon, Suhyeon Park, Sangtae Kim, Esteban Manuel Martínez Salas, Marie-Stéphanie Samain","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02379-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02379-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The Neotropics are considered one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, housing at least one third of all vascular plant species. One of the genera that has diversified in the Neotropics is Magnolia, with about 174 species of three sections (Macrophylla, Magnolia and Talauma) endemic to the Americas. In this work, we study the biogeographic history of the Neotropical Magnolia species using high-throughput sequencing data. Sequences from 39 species (38 from Magnolia and one from the sister genus Liriodendron) were assembled. The dataset contained sequences from 239 nuclear targets and complete chloroplast genomes. Phylogenomic hypotheses and the ancestral distribution range of Magnolia were reconstructed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results of the calibrated phylogenetic hypotheses and ancestral range construction suggest that the earliest arrival in the Neotropics were the ancestors of section Talauma (38 million years ago), which colonized the Pacific region. This early presence in South America suggests long-distance, overwater dispersal from North America, the presumed origin of the genus Magnolia. The analysis and the extant Talauma distribution indicate a south to north recolonization. The ancestors of the other two Neotropical sections, Magnolia and Macrophylla, migrated around 19 mya from Asia to North America, radiating southward to the Neotropics afterwards, around 11 mya.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results suggest that Neotropical magnolias originated from a North American ancestor. The current sections arrived at the region independently influenced by climatic processes such as temperature drops or the Miocene Climatic Optimum. Additionally, geological processes, such as the movement of the South and North American land masses and the emergence of the Panama isthmus, facilitated the migration between continents.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"40"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12042371/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144044067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Macroscale patterns of rodent herbivory damage and underlying mechanisms in forests of China.","authors":"Fengqun Meng","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02383-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02383-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Understanding the macroscale patterns of rodent herbivory damage and their driving factors are essential for effective rodent management. This study examines how climatic factors and human activities influence the large-scale spatial distribution of rodent herbivory damage in forests of China.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>I utilized a unique long-term province-level dataset of rodent damage in China to map its extent across the country. A generalized linear mixed model was employed to analyze the relationship between rodent damage, and climatic variables, and human population density (HPD). The results reveal a clear spatial pattern of rodent herbivory damage in China's forests, primarily driven by HPD and precipitation of the warmest quarter, with a secondary influence of diurnal temperature range. These three variables explained approximately 58% of the variation in the geographic pattern of rodent herbivory damage in China's forests. Specifically, rodent damage was negatively correlated with both precipitation of the warmest quarter and HPD. Higher precipitation during the warmest quarter (often as rainstorms) probably exacerbates rodent mortality through flooding their burrows and imposing thermal stress, while higher HPD probably increases predation pressure, further lowering rodent populations. Additionally, rodent damage was positively related to diurnal temperature range, likely because greater diurnal temperature fluctuations impose greater thermal stress on their predator, thereby enhancing rodent survival. Consequently, regions in northwestern China that are arid, experience high diurnal temperature fluctuations and have low human populations, are particularly vulnerable to severe rodent damage. In contrast, southern and southeastern China, with higher precipitation, milder temperature fluctuations, and denser human populations, experience significantly lower rodent damage.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings suggest that the combination of precipitation during the warmest quarter, diurnal temperature range, and HPD can serve as effective indicators of rodent pest severity in forests. This underscores the need for proactive surveillance and management in arid regions with high diurnal temperature fluctuations and low population densities worldwide.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"41"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12042591/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144010764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterization of gut microbiota in Apis cerana Across different altitudes in the Peninsular India.","authors":"K Hariprasath, M Dhanvarsha, S Mohankumar, M Sudha, N Saranya, V R Saminathan, S Subramanian","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02349-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02349-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Honey bees are vital to global ecosystems and agriculture due to their role as key pollinators. The gut microbiota of honey bees is essential for their health, providing nutrition and protection against pathogens. While extensive research has been conducted on Western honey bees, Less is understood about the gut microbiota of Apis cerana, an economically important species in South Asia. This study aimed to identify and describe the gut microbiota of Apis cerana across different elevations in the Indian peninsula to understand how these bacterial communities adapt to various ecological niches.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>High-throughput metagenome sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene (V1-V9 region) showed that the core microbiota genera in Apis cerana guts across elevations were Gilliamella, Lactobacillus, Snodgrassella, and Frischella. Gilliamella apicola and Lactobacillus kunkeei were identified as the most abundant species. Alpha diversity analysis showed a trend of decreasing species diversity as altitude increased from 200 to 1200 m, with a slight increase observed above 1400 m. Culturable bacterial species identified through 16S rRNA amplification belonged to the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria phyla. Different elevations harboured distinct bacterial communities, with some species being unique to certain altitudes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides valuable insights into the diversity and adaptations of Apis cerana gut microbiota across various ecological niches in the Indian peninsula. The observed variations in microbial communities at different elevations suggest that environmental factors play a significant role in shaping the gut microbiota of honey bees. Understanding these microbial dynamics could help in developing strategies to improve bee health and address critical questions in host-microbe symbiosis. Furthermore, this research lays the groundwork for future studies on the functional roles of these bacterial communities in Apis cerana and their potential applications in beekeeping practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"39"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12039211/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143994196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the application of landmark-free morphometrics to macroevolutionary analyses.","authors":"James M Mulqueeney, Thomas H G Ezard, Anjali Goswami","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02377-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02377-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The study of phenotypic evolution has been transformed in recent decades by methods allowing precise quantification of anatomical shape, in particular 3D geometric morphometrics. While this effectiveness of geometric morphometrics has been demonstrated by thousands of studies, it generally requires manual or semi-automated landmarking, which is time-consuming, susceptible to operator bias, and limits comparisons across morphologically disparate taxa. Emerging automated methods, particularly landmark-free techniques, offer potential solutions, but these approaches have thus far been primarily applied to closely related forms. In this study, we explore the utility of automated, landmark-free approaches for macroevolutionary analyses. We compare an application of Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping (LDDMM) known as Deterministic Atlas Analysis (DAA) with a high-density geometric morphometric approach, using a dataset of 322 mammals spanning 180 families. Initially, challenges arose from using mixed modalities (computed tomography (CT) and surface scans), which we addressed by standardising the data by using Poisson surface reconstruction that creates watertight, closed surfaces for all specimens. After standardisation, we observed a significant improvement in the correspondence between patterns of shape variation measured using manual landmarking and DAA, although differences emerged, especially for Primates and Cetacea. We further evaluated the downstream effects of these differences on macroevolutionary analyses, finding that both methods produced comparable but varying estimates of phylogenetic signal, morphological disparity and evolutionary rates. Our findings highlight the potential of landmark-free approaches like DAA for large scale studies across disparate taxa, owing to their enhanced efficiency. However, they also reveal several challenges that should be addressed before these methods can be widely adopted. In this context, we outline these issues, propose solutions based on existing literature, and identify potential avenues for further research. We argue that by incorporating these improvements, the application of landmark-free analyses could be expanded, thereby enhancing the scope of morphometric studies and enabling the analysis of larger and more diverse datasets.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"38"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12034209/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144026536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New information on the Hind limb feathering, soft tissues and skeleton of Microraptor (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae).","authors":"Matthieu Chotard, Xiaoli Wang, Xiaoting Zheng, Thomas G Kaye, Maxime Grosmougin, Luke Barlow, Martin Kundrát, T Alexander Dececchi, Michael B Habib, Juned Zariwala, Scott Hartman, Xing Xu, Michael Pittman","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02372-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02372-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Microraptor is known as the most significant example of extended feathering on the legs of a paravian, both fossil and modern. Its striking difference with most paravians contributes to the multiple theories on the function of its conspicuous hind limbs. Recent studies tried to uncover its evolutionary significance, but its anatomy has only been described from a small number of samples.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Through the analysis of 16 specimens of Microraptor, including 8 previously undescribed specimens, here we provide new information on the structure and number of hindwing feathers within a revised feather taxonomy, including a revised shape of the hindwing Microraptor which displays feathers all along the hind limb, except along its pedal digits. Here we describe in detail 6 feather types: metatarsal remiges, long metatarsal coverts, long femoral feathers as well as the first description of long tibial feathers, anterior coverts and minor coverts. Our study of specimens BMNHC PH881 and STM 5-5, 5-75, 6-62 and 6-86 is partially consistent with previous work, but the key difference in this study is a proximal shift of the triangular wing portion formed by the long tibial feathers and the long metatarsal coverts that outlines the joint between the tibiotarsus and metatarsus. This configuration does not exist in any extant or fossil bird, or in any other non-avian paravian described so far, underscoring the uniqueness of Microraptor. Unlike previous reconstructions, here the long metatarsal coverts display an asymmetrical close-vanned structure as in the metatarsal remiges. The feathers as preserved are posteriorly projected along the metatarsus and vary between medioposterior and lateroposterior projection along the tibial feathers.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The overall configuration of feather layers is only found in Microraptor, and the two layers of elongated and asymmetrically vaned feathers linked to the metatarsus are more reminiscent of the forewing of modern birds than of any leg in other fossils and modern taxa. These new observations allow us to better understand the flight, non-flight locomotion and hunting strategies of this iconic 'four-winged' dinosaur suggesting Microraptor had a complex behaviour that made it adapted to arboreal and terrestrial habitats.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"37"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12020036/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144059784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The hippo pathway: a molecular bridge between environmental cues and pace of life.","authors":"Ehsan Pashay Ahi, Bineet Panda, Craig R Primmer","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02378-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02378-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The pace of life (POL) is shaped by a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors, influencing growth, maturation, and lifespan across species. The Hippo signaling pathway, a key regulator of organ size and cellular homeostasis, has emerged as a central integrator of environmental cues that modulate POL traits. In this review, we explore how the Hippo pathway links environmental factors-such as temperature fluctuations and dietary energy availability-to molecular mechanisms governing metabolic balance, hormonal signaling, and reproductive timing. Specifically, we highlight the regulatory interactions between the Hippo pathway and metabolic sensors (AMPK, mTOR, SIRT1 and DLK1-Notch), as well as hormonal signals (IGF-1, kisspeptin, leptin, cortisol, thyroid and sex steroids), which together orchestrate key life-history traits, including growth rates, lifespan and sexual maturation, with a particular emphasis on their role in reproductive timing. Furthermore, we consider its role as a potential coordinator of POL-related molecular processes, such as telomere dynamics and epigenetic mechanisms, within a broader regulatory network. By integrating insights from molecular biology and eco-evolutionary perspectives, we propose future directions to dissect the Hippo pathway's role in POL regulation across taxa. Understanding these interactions will provide new perspectives on how organisms adaptively adjust life-history strategies in response to environmental variability.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12020181/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144061388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The sensitivity and response of the threatened endemic shrub Arbutus pavarii to current and future climate change.","authors":"Emad A Farahat, Amel F Tashani, Ahmed R Mahmoud","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02370-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02370-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Climate change is expected to significantly alter and modify the ecological conditions of plant distribution and growth, particularly in the Mediterranean Basin, which is considered one of the hot spots for global warming. Measuring and modeling the response (sensitivity) of wild plants to current and future climate is critical to predicting future biodiversity and ecological values. Arbutus pavarii Pamp. (family Ericaceae) is a narrow endemic Libyan medicinal plant and one of the Red List species according to the IUCN that faces the threats of extinction due to habitat deterioration, overuse, and low reproductive rates. In this study, the species distribution model (SDM) approach was used to model and forecast range shifts in Arbutus pavarii under current and future climate change scenarios at various Shared Socio-economic Pathways SSP1-2.6 (lowest emission scenario) and SSP5-8.5 (highest emission scenario) for the years 2050s and 2070s. The modeling results indicate that the current highly suitable areas of the plant will decrease in the future compared to the low and moderate ones. The distribution range of A. pavarii will increase under lower emission scenarios (SSP1-2.6, 2050s) by 1.12% but under higher emission scenarios (SSP5-8.5, 2070s), the suitability of the habitat will decrease by 1.39%. Given the low reproductive fitness and the anticipated rise in air temperature, A. pavarii is likely to encounter greater challenges in its natural existence and dispersal. Lands with high elevation and precipitation are suitable for its future distribution. We recommend further ecophysiological and tree-ring studies on this species to investigate its growth-climate relationship and performance under drought conditions. The in-situ conservation of A. pavarii as well as its cultivation in the projected high and moderate habitats are recommended. Local community engagement may be beneficial in any conservation program for this species.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"36"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12020073/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144044091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding the role of ecological divergence in the evolution of isolated populations in the Arremonops rufivirgatus species complex across Mesoamerica.","authors":"Ronald A Fernández-Gómez, David A Prieto-Torres, Adolfo G Navarro-Sigüenza, Luis A Sánchez-González","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02373-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02373-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The topographic complexity and wide range of environmental conditions of the Neotropical region have allowed the evolution of the most diverse avifauna in the world. Distributional patterns within this avian diversity mirror this complexity, and many species show allopatric distributions in environmentally continuous regions. Here, we used environmental variables and historical presence records to understand the evolution of the distribution of three isolated groups (Gulf, Pacific, and Yucatan Peninsula) of the Olive Sparrow (Arremonops rufivirgatus) species complex. We assessed the role of environmental factors underlying geographic distribution patterns in the complex based on ecological niche modeling and performed paleoclimatic reconstructions to assess distributional changes based on suitable areas during the Late Pleistocene.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Niche similarity was not rejected in the Pacific/Yucatan comparison, but the Gulf/Pacific and Gulf/Yucatan comparisons showed niche differentiation. We found regions with low climatic suitability representing a biogeographic barrier for the Pacific and the Yucatan groups, but not for the Yucatan and the Gulf groups, suggesting that biotic factors, such as competition with ecologically similar species, may be involved in geographic isolation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results suggest that allopatric distributions in the three groups within the A. rufivirgatus complex probably evolved due to biotic interactions with ecologically similar species in the relatively environmentally continuous areas across the Gulf Slope, but to range contractions leading to isolation in the Yucatan and the Pacific groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"34"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12001624/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144045084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Resource presentation dictates genetic and phenotypic adaptation in yeast.","authors":"Neetika Ahlawat, Anjali Mahilkar, Supreet Saini","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02361-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02361-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Environments shape adaptive trajectories of populations, often leading to adaptive parallelism in identical, and divergence in different environments. However, how does the likelihood of these possibilities change with minute changes in the environment remain unclear.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this study, we evolved Saccharomyces cerevisiae in environments which differed only in the manner in which the sugar source is presented to the population. In one set of populations, carbon was presented as a mixture of glucose-galactose, and in the other, as melibiose, a glucose-galactose disaccharide. Since the two environments differed in how the two monosaccharides are packaged, we call these environments 'synonymous'. Our results show that even subtle environmental differences can lead to differing phenotypic responses between the two sets of evolved populations. However, despite different adaptive responses, pleiotropic effects of adaptation are largely predictable. We also show that distinct genomic targets of adaptation between the two sets of evolved populations are functionally convergent.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study highlights how subtle environmental differences dictate phenotypic and genetic adaptation of populations. Additionally, these results also suggest the predictive potential of ancestor's fitness in understanding pleiotropic responses. Our work underscores the importance of studying more such environments to understand the generality of adaptive responses in populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"33"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11998346/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144033909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Macroevolutionary trends in Ceratosauria body size: insights of phylogenetic comparative methods.","authors":"Enzo E Seculi Pereyra, Damian E Pérez, Ariel H Méndez","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02374-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02374-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Patterns of body size evolution in dinosaurs are relevant for understanding the evolutionary trends that have shaped the disparity of phenotypes observed in the fossil record. In this sense, previous studies have suggested that Abelisauridae followed Cope´s rule and Noasauridae exhibited a phylogenetic trend towards decreasing body size. However, the absence of a comprehensive analysis including ecological, phylogenetic and socio-sexual factors make it necessary to reevaluate body size evolution in Ceretatosauria under a modern phylogenetic comparative approach. Therefore, we aimed to test whether body size evolved in Ceratosauria in accordance with Cope´s rule, evaluate what factors best explain differences in body size within Ceratosauria and examine what patterns of evolution rates, selection strength and constrain explain the diversification body size in Ceratosauria. Differences in body size were found between specialized taxa (= Late Cretaceous abelisaurids) and \"generalized taxa\" (= Outgroups + Noasauridae). This results suggested that the presence of a specialized feeding strategy in Late Cretaceous abelisaurids was associated with differences in body size, regardless of the phylogenetic topology and evolutionary model used. Additionally, the low levels of morphological disparity, low evolutionary rates for taxa with a specialist feeding behavior in Brownian motion model and the fossil record suggest that the evolution of body size in Late Cretaceous abelisaurids was constrained. The cursorial abilities suggested for abelisaurids joined with the specialized predation strategy could have constrained the increase in body size in Late Cretaceous abelisaurids after the extinction of carcharodontosaurids. On the other hand, Noasauridae exhibited a phylogenetic trend towards decreased body size, likely to avoid niche overlap with medium size theropods and minimize structural and maintenance cost while living in stressful environments and having a generalist diet. Understanding how the dynamics of dinosaur communities, such as competition and predator-prey interactions, operated in South America during the Late Cretaceous is crucial for reconstructing the evolutionary and ecological processes that shaped its unique faunal assemblage. Futures works should be focus on process-based community-evolution model and species distribution modeling to further understand the macroevolution dynamics of South America dinosaur community.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"32"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11994025/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144058907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}