Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T19:17:15.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The morphological diversification of carnivores in North America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Gina D. Wesley-Hunt
Gina D. Wesley-Hunt*
Affiliation:
Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The evolutionary history of a clade has traditionally been studied through phylogenetics, and taxonomic diversity has been used as a crude proxy for morphological diversity. However, morphological diversification—beyond counting taxa—can provide a very different view of a clade's evolutionary history and allows the investigation of patterns and timing of morphological evolution.

In this paper I use dentition to document the pattern of morphological and taxonomic diversification of Carnivoramorpha and mammalian meat eaters in North America. Using the dentition permits ecological inferences to be made, because teeth and diet are closely related. I present a method developed to describe the entire dentition of the Carnivoramorpha and other mammalian meat eaters (Creodonta). Morphological diversification is measured by dental disparity, using the mean pairwise dissimilarity among species.

I test the following hypotheses: (1) Morphological diversification was suppressed relative to taxonomic diversification, early in the evolutionary history of Carnivoramorpha; and (2) once an efficient system for consuming meat evolved, the dental system remained relatively unchanged.

The first hypothesis is rejected. Taxonomic and morphological diversity increase together through the clade's early evolution. There is no evidence of a morphological release in the carnivoramorphans with the demise of creodonts. The second hypothesis is supported. The ecological group “mammalian meat eaters” rapidly diversified morphologically and reached its maximum disparity early in its history, after which the dental system remained relatively unchanged.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , Winter 2005 , pp. 35 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Alroy, J. 2002. North American fossil mammal systematics database. http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/∼alroy/nafmsd.htmlGoogle Scholar
Biknevicius, A. R., and Van Valkenburgh, B. 1996. Design for killing: craniodental adaptations of predators. Pp. 393–428in Gittleman, J. L., ed. Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution, Vol. 2. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., and Aubry, M.-P. 1995. A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy. Pp. 129–212in Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., Aubry, M.-P., and Hardenbol, J., eds. Geochronology, time scales and global stratigraphic correlation. Society for Sedimentary Geology, Tulsa, Okla.Google Scholar
Carbone, C., Mace, G. M., Roberts, S. C., and Macdonald, D. W. 1999. Energetic constraints on the diet of terrestrial carnivores. Nature 402:286–288.Google Scholar
Ciampaglio, C. N., Kemp, M., and McShea, D. W. 2001. Detecting changes in morphospace occupation patterns in the fossil record: characterization and analysis of measures of disparity. Paleobiology 27:695–715.Google Scholar
Crusafont-Pairó, M., and Truyols-Santonja, J. 1956. A biometric study of the evolution of fissiped carnivores. Evolution 10:314–332.Google Scholar
Flynn, J. J., and Wesley, G. D. 2005. Carnivora. In Archibald, J. D. and Rose, K., eds. The rise of placental mammals: origins and relationships of the major extant clades. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore(in press).Google Scholar
Foote, M. 1991. Morphologic and taxonomic diversity in a clade's history: the blastoid record and stochastic simulations. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 28:101–140.Google Scholar
Foote, M. 1992. Paleozoic record of morphological diversity in blastozoan echinoderms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 89:7325–7329.Google Scholar
Foote, M. 1993. Discordance and concordance between morphological and taxonomic diversity. Paleobiology 19:185–204.Google Scholar
Foote, M. 1994. Morphological disparity in Ordovician-Devonian crinoids and the early saturation of morphological space. Paleobiology 20:320–344.Google Scholar
Foote, M. 1996. Ecological controls on the evolutionary recovery of post-Paleozoic crinoids. Science 274:1492–1495.Google Scholar
Foote, M. 1997. The evolution of morphological diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 28:129–152.Google Scholar
Gingerich, P. D., and Winkler, D. A. 1979. Patterns of variation and correlation in the dentition of the Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes. Journal of Mammalogy 60:691–704.Google Scholar
Gittleman, J. L. 1986. Carnivore life history patterns: allometric, phylogenetic, and ecological associations. American Naturalist 127:744–771.Google Scholar
Gould, S. J., and Calloway, C. B. 1980. Clams and brachiopods —ships that pass in the night. Paleobiology 6:383–396.Google Scholar
Graham, A. 1999. Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic history of North American vegetation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Gunnell, G. F. 1998. Creodonta. Pp. 91–109in Janis, et al. 1998.Google Scholar
Jacobs, B. F., Kingston, J. D., and Jacobs, L. L. 1999. The origin of grass-dominated ecosystems. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86:590–643.Google Scholar
Janis, C. M., Scott, K. M., and Jacobs, L. L., eds. 1998. Evolution of Tertiary mammals of North America, Vol. 1. Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates and ungulate-like mammals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Janis, C. M., Damuth, J., and Theodor, J. M. 2000. Miocene ungulates and terrestrial primary productivity: where have all the browsers gone? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 97:7899–7904.Google Scholar
Jernvall, J. 1995. Mammalian molar cusp patterns: developmental mechanisms of diversity. Acta Zoologica Fennica 198:1–61.Google Scholar
Jernvall, J., Hunter, J. P., and Fortelius, M. 1996. Molar tooth diversity, disparity, and ecology in Cenozoic ungulate radiations. Science 274:1489–1492.Google Scholar
Jernvall, J., Hunter, J. P., and Fortelius, M. 2000. Trends in the evolution of molar crown types in ungulate mammals: evidence from the Northern Hemisphere. Pp. 269–281in Teaford, M. F., Smith, M. M., and Ferguson, M. W. J., eds. Development, function and evolution of teeth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, M., and Lofsvold, D. 1992. Measuring selection and constraint in the evolution of growth. Evolution 46:954–971.Google Scholar
Lucas, P. W. 1979. The dental-dietary adaptations of mammals. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte 8:486–512.Google Scholar
Lucas, P. W., and Peters, C. R. 2000. Function of postcanine tooth crown shape in mammals. Pp. 282–289in Teaford, M. F., Smith, M. M., and Ferguson, M. W. J., eds. Development, function and evolution of teeth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lupia, R. 1999. Discordant morphological disparity and taxonomic diversity during the Cretaceous angiosperm radiation: North American pollen record. Paleobiology 25:1–28.Google Scholar
McNab, B. K. 1971. On the ecological significance of Bergmann's rule. Ecology 52:845–854.Google Scholar
McNab, B. K. 1989. Basal rate of metabolism, body size, and food habits in the order Carnivora. Pp. 335–354in Gittleman, J. L., ed. Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution, Vol. 1. Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Morlo, M. 1999. Niche structure and evolution in creodont (Mammalia) faunas of the European and North American Eocene. Geobios 32:297–305.Google Scholar
Roy, K., and Foote, M. 1997. Morphological approaches to measuring biodiversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12:277–281.Google Scholar
Simpson, G. G. 1953. The major features of evolution. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sokal, R. R., and Rohlf, J. F. 1995. Biometry, 3d ed.W. H. Freeman, New York.Google Scholar
Van Valen, L. 1969. Evolution of dental growth and adaptation in mammalian carnivores. Evolution 23:96–117.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1985. Locomotor diversity within past and present guilds of large predatory mammals. Paleobiology 11:406–428.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1987. Canine strength and killing behavior in large carnivores. Journal of Zoology 212:379–397.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1988. Trophic diversity in past and present guilds of large predatory mammals. Paleobiology 14:155–173.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1989. Carnivore dental adaptations and diet: a study of trophic diversity within guilds. Pp. 410–436in Gittleman, J. L., ed. Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution. Vol. 1. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1990. Skeletal and dental predictors of body mass in carnivores. Pp. 181–205in Damuth, J. and MacFadden, B. J., eds. Body size in mammalian paleobiology: estimations and biological implications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1991. (Mammalia: Carnivora): evolutionary interactions among sympatric predators. Paleobiology 17:340–361.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1996. Feeding behavior in free-ranging, large African carnivores. Journal of Mammalogy 77:241–254.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B. 1999. Major patterns in the history of carnivorous mammals. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science 27:463–493.Google Scholar
Van Valkenburgh, B., and Janis, C. M. 1993. Historical diversity patterns in North American large herbivores and carnivores. Pp. 330–340in Ricklefs, R. E. and Schluter, D., eds. Species diversity in ecological communities. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Wagner, P. J. 1996. Patterns of morphologic diversification during the initial radiation of the “Archaeogastropoda.” Pp. 161–169in Taylor, J. D., ed. Origin and evolutionary radiation of the Mollusca. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Wang, X. 1994. Phylogenetic systematics of the Hesperocyoninae (Carnivora: Canidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 221:1–207.Google Scholar
Wang, X., Tedford, R. H., and Taylor, B. E. 1999. Phylogenetic systematics of the Borophaginae (Carnivora: Canidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 243:1–391.Google Scholar
Werdelin, L. 1996. Carnivoran ecomorphology: a phylogenetic perspective. Pp. 582–624in Gittleman, J., ed. Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution, Vol. 2. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Willis, K. J., and McElwain, J. C. 2002. The evolution of plants. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Wyss, A. R. and Flynn, J. J. 1993. A phylogenetic analysis and definition of the Carnivora. Pp. 32–52in Szalay, F. S., Novacek, M. J., and McKenna, M. C., eds. Mammal phylogeny: placentals. Springer, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar