Using GIS to examine biogeographic and macroevolutionary patterns in some late Paleozoic cephalopods from the North American Midcontinent Sea

Abstract

Geographic range is an important macroevolutionary parameter frequently considered in paleontological studies as species’ distributions and range sizes are determined by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors well known to affect the differential birth and death of species. Thus, considering how distributions and range sizes fluctuate over time can provide important insight into evolutionary dynamics. This study uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and analyses of evolutionary rates to examine how in some species within the Cephalopoda, an important pelagic clade, geographic range size and rates of speciation and extinction changed throughout the Pennsylvanian and early Permian in the North American Midcontinent Sea. This period is particularly interesting for biogeographic and evolutionary studies because it is characterized by repetitive interglacial-glacial cycles, a global transition from an icehouse to a greenhouse climate during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, and decelerated macroevolutionary dynamics, i.e. low speciation and extinction rates. The analyses presented herein indicate that cephalopod species diversity was not completely static and actually fluctuated throughout the Pennsylvanian and early Permian, matching findings from other studies. However, contrary to some other studies, the mean geographic ranges of cephalopod species did not change significantly through time, despite numerous climate oscillations; further, geographic range size did not correlate with rates of speciation and extinction. These results suggest that pelagic organisms may have responded differently to late Paleozoic climate changes than benthic organisms, although additional consideration of this issue is needed. Finally, these results indicate that, at least in the case of cephalopods, macroevolution during the late Paleozoic was more dynamic than previously characterized, and patterns may have varied across different clades during this interval.

The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of “sluggish”’ evolution

“…previously published work (Stanley and Powell 2003;Powell 2005). Per-million-year speciation rates are low throughout the interval, comparable to per-million-year speciation rates from cephalopods during the same interval (Kolis and Lieberman 2019). Similarly, the slight increase in extinction during the Late Pennsylvanian (Virgilian) and early Permian (Wolfcampian) is consistent with patterns of brachiopod extinction found previously by Olzewski and Patzkowsky (2001a), who attributed the increase to gradual sea-level fall and a shift toward more arid conditions evidenced by the increased appearance of evaporites.…”

“…As with proportional extinction, the highest per-million-year extinction rates were found in the Virgilian and Wolfcampian, but their relative ranks were reversed. For context, background extinction rates derived from species-level brachiopod data for the Middle Devonian range from 0.2 to 0.6 per million years (Stigall 2010), while late Paleozoic extinction rates derived from species-level cephalopod data range from 0.07 to 0.34 per million years (Kolis and Lieberman 2019). Thus, per-million-year extinction rates for all stages are below the range of Middle Devonian per-million-year background rates and comparable to or lower than other species-level late Paleozoic studies.…”

“…Rates from stages with <100 occurrences were not recorded but were used in calculations. To facilitate comparison with published species-level Paleozoic rates (e.g., Stigall 2010; Kolis and Lieberman 2019), we additionally calculated extinction and speciation rates as per-million-year rates using the equations of Foote (2000).…”

“…The late Paleozoic is interesting from a macroevolutionary perspective, because it was a time of “sluggish” evolution when global rates of origination and extinction were low (Stanley and Powell 2003; Powell 2005; Segessenman and Kammer 2018; Balseiro and Halpern 2019; Kolis and Lieberman 2019) in spite of dramatic, cyclical changes in climate and the environment (Parrish 1993; Olszewski and Patzkowsky 2001a,b; Raymond and Metz 2004; Horton et al 2012; Balseiro 2016). The LPIA was the longest-lasting glacial period of the Phanerozoic, which lasted from 320 to 260 Ma.…”

Geographic drivers of diversification in loliginid squids with an emphasis on the western Atlantic species

“…Neocoleoid cephalopods are marine invertebrates that comprise octopuses, cuttlefishes and squids. Many studies have dealt with systematics and macroevolution in lineages of these organisms in the last decade (Kolis & Lieberman, 2019;Lindgren et al, 2012;Strugnell et al, 2006;Strugnell & Nishiguchi, 2007;Tanner, 2018;Wani, 2011). However, very few studies have addressed diversification dynamics from a geographic perspective, covering temporal and phylogenetic hypotheses (but see (Amor et al, 2014;Brakoniecki, 1987;J.…”