Ecological changes in Miocene mammalian record show impact of prolonged climatic forcing

Badgley, Catherine; Barry, John C.; Morgan, Michèle E.; Nelson, Sherry V.; Behrensmeyer, Anna K.; Cerling, Thure E.; Pilbeam, David

doi:10.1073/pnas.0805592105

Cited by 182 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Such intraspecific evolution may be easier in some lineages than in others (Vrba 1999). The ability to evolve while maintaining a relatively stable range has also been documented in the classic study of Darwin's finches (Grant and Grant 2008), and suggested by recent research on dietary shifts in mammal lineages during Miocene climate change in Pakistan (Badgley et al 2008). This is also consistent with predictions of the variability selection hypothesis of Potts (1998), in which species with the capacity to change rapidly under shifting environmental conditions preferentially survive relative to specialized species lacking this capacity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Climate change and faunal turnover: testing the mechanics of the turnover-pulse hypothesis with South African fossil data

Faith

Behrensmeyer²

2013

Paleobiology

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Abstract.-The turnover-pulse hypothesis (TPH) makes explicit predictions concerning the potential responses of species to climate change, which is considered to be a major cause of faunal turnover (extinction, speciation, and migration). Previous studies have tested the TPH primarily by examining temporal correlations between turnover pulses and climatic events. It is rarely possible to dissect such correlations and observe turnover as it is occurring or to predict how different lineages will respond to climate change. Thus, whether climate change drives faunal turnover in the manner predicted by the TPH remains unclear. In this study, we test the underlying mechanics of the TPH using well-dated Quaternary ungulate records from southern Africa's Cape Floristic Region (CFR). Changes in sea level, vegetation, and topographic barriers across glacial-interglacial transitions in southern Africa caused shifts in habitat size and configuration, allowing us to generate specific predictions concerning the responses of ungulates characterized by different feeding habits and habitat preferences. Examples from the CFR show how climatically forced vegetation change and allopatry can drive turnover resulting from extinction and migration. Evidence for speciation is lacking, suggesting either that climate change does not cause speciation in these circumstances or that the evolutionary outcome of turnover is contingent on the nature and rate of climate change. Migrations and extinctions are observed in the CFR fossil record over geologically short time intervals, on the order of Milankovitchscale climate oscillations. We propose that such climate oscillations could drive a steady and moderate level of faunal turnover over 10 4 -year time scales, which would not be resolved in paleontological records spanning 10 5 years and longer. A turnover pulse, which is a marked increase in turnover relative to previous and subsequent time periods, requires additional, temporally constrained climatic forcing or other processes that could accelerate evolutionary change, perhaps mediated through biotic interactions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Climate change and faunal turnover: testing the mechanics of the turnover-pulse hypothesis with South African fossil data

Faith

Behrensmeyer²

2013

Paleobiology

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“…At present, the discontinuous and incomplete paleoenvironmental record renders linkages to diet change weak. This is in contrast to the continuous, multiproxy paleoenvironmental records from 8 to 5 Ma in the Siwalik Hills of India and Pakistan, where a spatiotemporally continuous isotopic record of soil carbonates and a rich, coeval faunal collection, which includes isotope data from enamel, show that long-term climate change resulted in major faunal turnover (12). Building a multiproxy data set from existing East African sites during this time period has the potential of elucidating the primary drivers of herbivore diet change related to changes in paleoenvironment and paleoclimate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Previously published isotope data on enamel from the Nakali, Namurungule, Nawata, and Nachukui formations (included and expanded significantly here) indicate a shift toward C 4 -dominated diets between 9.6 and 4.2 Ma (7). The previously published fossil enamel δ 13 C record from East Africa shows that herbivores incorporated C 4 vegetation into their diets as early as ∼10 Ma and is generally consistent with the Late Miocene (8-6 Ma) global expansion of C 4 vegetation documented in the Siwaliks, North America, and South America (1,(11)(12)(13)(14).…”

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confidence: 75%

Late Miocene to Pliocene carbon isotope record of differential diet change among East African herbivores

Uno

Cerling

Harris³

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Stable isotope and molecular data suggest that C 4 grasses first appeared globally in the Oligocene. In East Africa, stable isotope data from pedogenic carbonate and fossil tooth enamel suggest a first appearance between 15-10 Ma and subsequent expansion during the Plio-Pleistocene. The fossil enamel record has the potential to provide detailed information about the rates of dietary adaptation to this new resource among different herbivore lineages. We present carbon isotope data from 452 fossil teeth that record differential rates of diet change from C 3 to mixed C 3 /C 4 or C 4 diets among East African herbivore families at seven different time periods during the Late Miocene to the Pliocene (9.9-3.2 Ma). Significant amounts of C 4 grasses were present in equid diets beginning at 9.9 Ma and in rhinocerotid diets by 9.6 Ma, although there is no isotopic evidence for expansive C 4 grasslands in this part of the Late Miocene. Bovids and hippopotamids followed suit with individuals that had C 4 -dominated (>65%) diets by 7.4 Ma. Suids adopted C 4 -dominated diets between 6.5 and 4.2 Ma. Gomphotheriids and elephantids had mostly C 3 -dominated diets through 9.3 Ma, but became dedicated C 4 grazers by 6.5 Ma. Deinotheriids and giraffids maintained a predominantly C 3 diet throughout the record. The sequence of differential diet change among herbivore lineages provides ecological insight into a key period of hominid evolution and valuable information for future studies that focus on morphological changes associated with diet change.carbon isotopes | herbivore diet | bioapatite | paleodiet | mammal

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“…Although temporal changes in terrestrial fossil diversity have been linked to changing productivity and temperature (12)(13)(14), the few quantitative analyses to date have been performed at highly disparate spatial scales, either global to continental or for single fossil locations (15)(16)(17). The evidence for terrestrial diversity-climate relationships from these studies is equivocal, calling into question the universality of the diversity-productivity relationship.…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%

Twenty-million-year relationship between mammalian diversity and primary productivity

Fritz

Eronen

Schnitzler

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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At global and regional scales, primary productivity strongly correlates with richness patterns of extant animals across space, suggesting that resource availability and climatic conditions drive patterns of diversity. However, the existence and consistency of such diversityproductivity relationships through geological history is unclear. Here we provide a comprehensive quantitative test of the diversityproductivity relationship for terrestrial large mammals through time across broad temporal and spatial scales. We combine >14,000 occurrences for 690 fossil genera through the Neogene (23-1.8 Mya) with regional estimates of primary productivity from fossil plant communities in North America and Europe. We show a significant positive diversity-productivity relationship through the 20-millionyear record, providing evidence on unprecedented spatial and temporal scales that this relationship is a general pattern in the ecology and paleo-ecology of our planet. Further, we discover that genus richness today does not match the fossil relationship, suggesting that a combination of human impacts and Pleistocene climate variability has modified the 20-million-year ecological relationship by strongly reducing primary productivity and driving many mammalian species into decline or to extinction. macroecology | paleontology | mammals | net primary production

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Ecological changes in Miocene mammalian record show impact of prolonged climatic forcing

Abstract: faunal turnover ͉ isotope ecology ͉ mammals ͉ paleocommunities ͉ flood plain paleoecology

Cited by 182 publications

References 32 publications

Climate change and faunal turnover: testing the mechanics of the turnover-pulse hypothesis with South African fossil data

Climate change and faunal turnover: testing the mechanics of the turnover-pulse hypothesis with South African fossil data

Late Miocene to Pliocene carbon isotope record of differential diet change among East African herbivores

Twenty-million-year relationship between mammalian diversity and primary productivity

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