Cenozoic history of the tropical marine biodiversity hotspot

Skye Yunshu Tian (), Moriaki Yasuhara (), Fabien L. Condamine, Huai-Hsuan M. Huang, Allan Gil S. Fernando, Yolanda M. Aguilar, Hita Pandita, Toshiaki Irizuki, Hokuto Iwatani, Caren P. Shin, Willem Renema and Tomoki Kase
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Skye Yunshu Tian: The University of Hong Kong
Moriaki Yasuhara: The University of Hong Kong
Fabien L. Condamine: Université de Montpellier
Huai-Hsuan M. Huang: Princeton University
Allan Gil S. Fernando: University of the Philippines, Diliman
Yolanda M. Aguilar: Marine Geological Survey, Mines and Geosciences Bureau
Hita Pandita: Institute Teknologi Nasional Yogyakarta
Toshiaki Irizuki: Shimane University
Hokuto Iwatani: Yamaguchi University
Caren P. Shin: Paleontological Research Institution
Willem Renema: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Tomoki Kase: Department of Geology and Paleontology

Nature, 2024, vol. 632, issue 8024, 343-349

Abstract: Abstract The region with the highest marine biodiversity on our planet is known as the Coral Triangle or Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA)1,2. Its enormous biodiversity has long attracted the interest of biologists; however, the detailed evolutionary history of the IAA biodiversity hotspot remains poorly understood3. Here we present a high-resolution reconstruction of the Cenozoic diversity history of the IAA by inferring speciation–extinction dynamics using a comprehensive fossil dataset. We found that the IAA has exhibited a unidirectional diversification trend since about 25 million years ago, following a roughly logistic increase until a diversity plateau beginning about 2.6 million years ago. The growth of diversity was primarily controlled by diversity dependency and habitat size, and also facilitated by the alleviation of thermal stress after 13.9 million years ago. Distinct net diversification peaks were recorded at about 25, 20, 16, 12 and 5 million years ago, which were probably related to major tectonic events in addition to climate transitions. Key biogeographic processes had far-reaching effects on the IAA diversity as shown by the long-term waning of the Tethyan descendants versus the waxing of cosmopolitan and IAA taxa. Finally, it seems that the absence of major extinctions and the Cenozoic cooling have been essential in making the IAA the richest marine biodiversity hotspot on Earth.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07617-4

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