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Limited role of functional differentiation in early diversification of animals.
Nat Commun. 2015 Mar 04; 6:6455.NC

Abstract

The origin of most animal phyla and classes during the Cambrian explosion has been hypothesized to represent an 'early burst' of evolutionary exploration of functional ecological possibilities. However, the ecological history of marine animals has yet to be fully quantified, preventing an assessment of the early-burst model for functional ecology. Here we use ecological assignments for 18,621 marine animal genera to assess the relative timing of functional differentiation versus taxonomic diversification from the Cambrian to the present day. We find that functional diversity increased more slowly than would be expected given the history of taxonomic diversity. Contrary to previous inferences of rapid ecological differentiation from the early appearances of all well-fossilized phyla and classes, explicit coding of functional characteristics demonstrates that Cambrian genera occupied comparatively few modes of life. Functional diversity increased in the Ordovician and, especially, during the recoveries from the end-Permian and end-Cretaceous mass extinctions. Permanent shifts in the relationship between functional and taxonomic diversity following the era-bounding extinctions indicates a critical role for these biotic crises in coupling taxonomic and functional diversity.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Knope ML
Department of Geological &Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Heim NA
Department of Geological &Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Frishkoff LO
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Gilbert Hall, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Payne JL
Department of Geological &Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

MeSH

Adaptation, BiologicalAnimalsAquatic OrganismsBiodiversityBiological EvolutionFossilsPaleontologyTime Factors

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

25737406

Citation

Knope, M L., et al. "Limited Role of Functional Differentiation in Early Diversification of Animals." Nature Communications, vol. 6, 2015, p. 6455.
Knope ML, Heim NA, Frishkoff LO, et al. Limited role of functional differentiation in early diversification of animals. Nat Commun. 2015;6:6455.
Knope, M. L., Heim, N. A., Frishkoff, L. O., & Payne, J. L. (2015). Limited role of functional differentiation in early diversification of animals. Nature Communications, 6, 6455. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7455
Knope ML, et al. Limited Role of Functional Differentiation in Early Diversification of Animals. Nat Commun. 2015 Mar 4;6:6455. PubMed PMID: 25737406.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Limited role of functional differentiation in early diversification of animals. AU - Knope,M L, AU - Heim,N A, AU - Frishkoff,L O, AU - Payne,J L, Y1 - 2015/03/04/ PY - 2014/10/30/received PY - 2015/01/30/accepted PY - 2015/3/5/entrez PY - 2015/3/5/pubmed PY - 2016/2/9/medline SP - 6455 EP - 6455 JF - Nature communications JO - Nat Commun VL - 6 N2 - The origin of most animal phyla and classes during the Cambrian explosion has been hypothesized to represent an 'early burst' of evolutionary exploration of functional ecological possibilities. However, the ecological history of marine animals has yet to be fully quantified, preventing an assessment of the early-burst model for functional ecology. Here we use ecological assignments for 18,621 marine animal genera to assess the relative timing of functional differentiation versus taxonomic diversification from the Cambrian to the present day. We find that functional diversity increased more slowly than would be expected given the history of taxonomic diversity. Contrary to previous inferences of rapid ecological differentiation from the early appearances of all well-fossilized phyla and classes, explicit coding of functional characteristics demonstrates that Cambrian genera occupied comparatively few modes of life. Functional diversity increased in the Ordovician and, especially, during the recoveries from the end-Permian and end-Cretaceous mass extinctions. Permanent shifts in the relationship between functional and taxonomic diversity following the era-bounding extinctions indicates a critical role for these biotic crises in coupling taxonomic and functional diversity. SN - 2041-1723 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/25737406/Limited_role_of_functional_differentiation_in_early_diversification_of_animals_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -