Burin, G., Park, T., James, T.D. orcid.org/0000-0003-1363-4742 et al. (2 more authors) (Cover date: May 08, 2023) The dynamic adaptive landscape of cetacean body size. Current Biology, 33 (9). 1787-1794.e3. ISSN 0960-9822
Abstract
Adaptive landscapes are central to evolutionary theory, forming a conceptual bridge between micro- and macroevolution.1,2,3,4 Evolution by natural selection across an adaptive landscape should drive lineages toward fitness peaks, shaping the distribution of phenotypic variation within and among clades over evolutionary timescales.5 The location and breadth of these peaks in phenotypic space can also evolve,4 but whether phylogenetic comparative methods can detect such patterns has largely remained unexplored.6 Here, we characterize the global and local adaptive landscape for total body length in cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and relatives), a trait that spans an order of magnitude, across their ∼53-million-year evolutionary history. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we analyze shifts in long-term mean body length7 and directional changes in average trait values8 for 345 living and fossil cetacean taxa. Remarkably, we find that the global macroevolutionary adaptive landscape of cetacean body length is relatively flat, with very few peak shifts occurring after cetaceans entered the oceans. Local peaks are more numerous and manifest as trends along branches linked to specific adaptations. These results contrast with previous studies using only extant taxa,9 highlighting the vital role of fossil data for understanding macroevolution.10,11,12 Our results indicate that adaptive peaks are dynamic and are associated with subzones of local adaptations, creating moving targets for species adaptation. In addition, we identify limits in our ability to detect some evolutionary patterns and processes and suggest that multiple approaches are required to characterize complex hierarchical patterns of adaptation in deep time.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | macroevolution, cetaceans, body size, adaptive landscape, phenotypic evolution, Ornstein-Uhlenbeck, Fabric model |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Aug 2023 15:11 |
Last Modified: | 21 Aug 2023 15:39 |
Published Version: | https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S096... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.014 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:202463 |
Commentary/Response Threads
- Burin, G., Park, T., James, T.D., Slater, G.J. and Cooper, N. The dynamic adaptive landscape of cetacean body size. (deposited 21 Aug 2023 15:11) [Currently Displayed]