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Evolutionary patterns in early tetrapods. I. Rapid initial diversification followed by decrease in rates of character

Marcello Ruta1, Peter J Wagner, Michael I Coates

  • 1Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605-2496, USA. m.ruta@bristol.ac.uk

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|August 12, 2006
PubMed
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Rates of morphological change in early land vertebrates (tetrapods) slowed significantly over time during the Paleozoic Era. This pattern suggests biological factors, not just study biases, drove the reduced diversification rates in terrestrial lineages.

Area of Science:

  • Paleontology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Vertebrate Zoology

Background:

  • Morphological diversification during marine radiations is well-studied.
  • Terrestrial radiations, particularly early tetrapods, receive less attention.
  • Understanding diversification rates is key to evolutionary biology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate rates of morphological character change in Palaeozoic limbed tetrapods.
  • To analyze evolutionary rates over phylogeny and geological time.
  • To differentiate between biological and methodological explanations for observed patterns.

Main Methods:

  • Phylogenetic analysis of Palaeozoic tetrapod taxa.
  • Quantification of character change rates per cladistic branch.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Calculation of character change rates per million years.
  • Statistical analysis to assess significance of rate changes over time.

    • Main Results:

    • Palaeozoic tetrapods exhibited significant decreases in morphological character change rates.
    • Rates decreased significantly from the Devonian through the Pennsylvanian per branch.
    • Rates decreased significantly over geological time (per million years) across boundaries.
    • The decrease in rates per million years was least significant across the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary.

    Conclusions:

    • Observed decreases in evolutionary rates are unlikely to be solely due to sampling or methodological biases.
    • The general pattern suggests biological factors influenced the slowing of morphological diversification in early terrestrial tetrapods.
    • This study highlights the importance of considering terrestrial radiations in evolutionary research.