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Mutualism with plants drives primate diversification.

José M Gómez1, Miguel Verdú

  • 1Departamento de Ecología, University of Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain. jmgreyes@ugr.es

Systematic Biology
|January 10, 2012
PubMed
Summary

A facultative mutualism with plants, driven by fruit consumption and seed dispersal, significantly boosted primate diversification. This interaction led to higher speciation and lower extinction rates, expanding primate evolutionary success.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Paleontology
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Understanding evolutionary diversification is key, but often relies solely on extant species, potentially causing inaccurate extinction rate estimations.
  • Integrating fossil data with extant species information is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of diversification drivers.
  • Ecological interactions, particularly mutualisms, are understudied factors influencing speciation and extinction rates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of facultative plant-animal mutualism in primate diversification.
  • To combine phylogenetic, neontological, and paleontological data to assess the impact of mutualism on primate evolution.
  • To explore the mechanisms by which mutualism may have fueled primate taxonomic diversification.

Main Methods:

  • Compiled diet and seed dispersal data for 381 extant and 556 extinct primate species.
  • Utilized molecular phylogenies to analyze speciation and extinction rates in mutualistic versus nonmutualistic primates.
  • Compared geological durations and extinction rates between fossil mutualistic and nonmutualistic primates.
  • Assessed geographic range sizes for both extant and extinct mutualistic and nonmutualistic primates.

Main Results:

  • Mutualistic extant primates exhibited higher speciation and lower extinction rates, leading to greater diversification.
  • Mutualistic fossil primates demonstrated longer geological durations and lower per capita extinction rates.
  • Primates engaged in mutualism possessed significantly larger geographic ranges compared to nonmutualistic species.
  • Larger geographic ranges in mutualistic primates likely facilitated diversification by reducing extinction and increasing speciation.

Conclusions:

  • Facilitative mutualism with plants, stemming from frugivory and seed dispersal, is a significant driver of primate diversification.
  • The establishment of this mutualism provided evolutionary advantages, enhancing primate survival and speciation.
  • Integrating fossil and extant data reveals the long-term impact of ecological interactions on evolutionary trajectories.