Global latitudinal gradients and the evolution of body size in dinosaurs and mammals

Lauren N. Wilson (), Jacob D. Gardner (), John P. Wilson, Alex Farnsworth, Zackary R. Perry, Patrick S. Druckenmiller, Gregory M. Erickson and Chris L. Organ ()
Additional contact information
Lauren N. Wilson: University of Alaska Museum
Jacob D. Gardner: University of Reading
John P. Wilson: Montana State University
Alex Farnsworth: University of Bristol
Zackary R. Perry: University of Alaska Museum
Patrick S. Druckenmiller: University of Alaska Museum
Gregory M. Erickson: Florida State University
Chris L. Organ: University of Reading

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Global climate patterns fundamentally shape the distribution of species and ecosystems. For example, Bergmann’s rule predicts that homeothermic animals, including birds and mammals, inhabiting cooler climates are generally larger than close relatives from warmer climates. The modern world, however, lacks the comparative data needed to evaluate such macroecological rules rigorously. Here, we test for Bergmann’s rule in Mesozoic dinosaurs and mammaliaforms that radiated within relatively temperate global climate regimes. We develop a phylogenetic model that accounts for biases in the fossil record and allows for variable evolutionary dispersal rates. Our analysis also includes new fossil data from the extreme high-latitude Late Cretaceous Arctic Prince Creek Formation. We find no evidence for Bergmann’s rule in Mesozoic dinosaurs or mammaliaforms, the ancestors of extant homeothermic birds and mammals. When our model is applied to thousands of extant dinosaur (bird) and mammal species, we find that body size evolution remains independent of latitude. A modest temperature effect is found in extant, but not in Mesozoic, birds, suggesting that body size evolution in modern birds was influenced by Bergmann’s rule during Cenozoic climatic change. Our study provides a general approach for studying macroecological rules, highlighting the fossil record’s power to address longstanding ecological principles.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46843-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-46843-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46843-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().