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Controlling for the species-area effect supports constrained long-term Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate diversification

Author

Listed:
  • Roger A. Close

    (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston)

  • Roger B.J. Benson

    (University of Oxford)

  • Paul Upchurch

    (University College London)

  • Richard J. Butler

    (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston)

Abstract

Variation in the geographic spread of fossil localities strongly biases inferences about the evolution of biodiversity, due to the ubiquitous scaling of species richness with area. This obscures answers to key questions, such as how tetrapods attained their tremendous extant diversity. Here, we address this problem by applying sampling standardization methods to spatial regions of equal size, within a global Mesozoic-early Palaeogene data set of non-flying terrestrial tetrapods. We recover no significant increase in species richness between the Late Triassic and the Cretaceous/Palaeogene (K/Pg) boundary, strongly supporting bounded diversification in Mesozoic tetrapods. An abrupt tripling of richness in the earliest Palaeogene suggests that this diversity equilibrium was reset following the K/Pg extinction. Spatial heterogeneity in sampling is among the most important biases of fossil data, but has often been overlooked. Our results indicate that controlling for variance in geographic spread in the fossil record significantly impacts inferred patterns of diversity through time.

Suggested Citation

  • Roger A. Close & Roger B.J. Benson & Paul Upchurch & Richard J. Butler, 2017. "Controlling for the species-area effect supports constrained long-term Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate diversification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15381
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15381
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph T. Flannery-Sutherland & Daniele Silvestro & Michael J. Benton, 2022. "Global diversity dynamics in the fossil record are regionally heterogeneous," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Joseph T. Flannery-Sutherland & Cameron D. Crossan & Corinne E. Myers & Austin J. W. Hendy & Neil H. Landman & James D. Witts, 2024. "Late Cretaceous ammonoids show that drivers of diversification are regionally heterogeneous," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.

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