The role of behavioural flexibility in primate diversification

Creighton, Maria J.A.; Greenberg, Dan; Reader, Simon M.; Mooers, Arne Ø.

doi:10.1101/2020.10.15.341859

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 126 publications

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“…Diversification rate estimates generated using this method often rely on species numbers as their estimate of taxa richness, meaning that diversification rate estimates are inherently biased by the inflation phenomenon we are studying (i.e., highly inflated genera will receive disproportionally high diversification rates). Therefore, richness scores for our diversification rate calculations were determined as the counts of the well-resolved “lineages” described in Creighton et al (2021). These lineages were determined by creating a time cut-off in the 10kTrees consensus primate phylogeny (Arnold, et al, 2010) in an attempt to eliminate very young PSC species descriptions and obtain a consistent (unbiased) estimate of diversity across clades.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of taxonomic splitting and its role in primate conservation

Creighton

Luo

Reader

et al. 2021

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Species are the main unit used to measure biodiversity, but different preferred diagnostic criteria can lead to very different delineations. For instance, named primate species have more than doubled since 1982. Such increases have been termed "taxonomic inflation" and have been attributed to the widespread adoption of the ′phylogenetic species concept′ (PSC) in preference to the previously popular ′biological species concept′ (BSC). Criticisms of the PSC have suggested taxonomic inflation may be biased toward particular taxa and have unfavourable consequences for conservation. Here, we explore predictors of taxonomic inflation across primate taxa since the initial application of the PSC nearly 40 years ago. We do not find evidence that diversification rate, the rate of lineage formation over evolutionary time, is linked to inflation, contrary to expectations if the PSC identifies incipient species. We also do not find evidence of research effort in fields where work has been suggested to motivate splitting being associated with increases in species numbers among genera. To test the suggestion that splitting groups is likely to increase their perceived risk of extinction, we test whether genera that have undergone more splitting have also observed a greater increase in their proportion of threatened species since the introduction of the PSC. We find no cohesive signal of inflation leading to higher threat probabilities across primate genera. Overall, this analysis sends a positive message that threat statuses of primate species are not being overwhelmingly affected by splitting in line with what has recently been reported for birds. Regardless, we echo warnings that it is unwise for conservation to be reliant on taxonomic stability. Species (however defined) are not independent from one another, thus, monitoring and managing them as such may not meet the overarching goal of conserving biodiversity.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%