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Why aren't rabbits and hares larger?

Susumu Tomiya1,2,3,4, Lauren K Miller4

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Competition with ungulate-type herbivores (UTHs) limited the body size of lagomorphs. This evolutionary constraint explains their restricted phenotypic diversity and insular gigantism, impacting macroevolutionary patterns.

Keywords:
Body sizeLagomorphacompetitionmacroecologymacroevolution

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Area of Science:

  • Macroevolutionary biology
  • Paleontology
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Competition among large clades is a known factor influencing lineage diversification.
  • Mechanistically clear examples of macroevolutionary competition effects are rare.
  • Lagomorphs exhibit limited phenotypic diversity and insular gigantism, suggesting potential evolutionary constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that competition with ungulate-type herbivores (UTHs) constrained lagomorph evolution.
  • To explain the limited phenotypic diversity and insular gigantism observed in lagomorphs.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of modern ecoregion data to correlate UTH body mass with lagomorph body mass.
  • Examination of local-population energy use scaling patterns to identify competitive disadvantages.
  • Modeling of North American lagomorph body mass trajectories from the late Eocene to Pleistocene.

Main Results:

  • Minimum UTH body mass significantly predicts maximum lagomorph body mass in modern ecoregions.
  • Lagomorphs over ~6.3 kg show a competitive disadvantage against artiodactyls, aligning with their observed size limits.
  • Fossil data indicate lagomorph maximum body mass was capped by the smallest contemporary perissodactyl or artiodactyl.

Conclusions:

  • Competition with UTHs, alongside intra-clade competition and predation, regulated lagomorph body size evolution.
  • Phenotypic boundaries among clades within an adaptive zone can be conditionally coupled.
  • Biotic and abiotic factors synergistically drive diversity patterns.