Cited by 212Evolution and Paleontology StudiesGenetic diversity and population structurePlant Diversity and Evolution

Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans

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Delsuc, Frédéric, Vizcaíno, Sergio F, Douzery, Emmanuel JP·2004·BMC Evolutionary Biology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Comparative genomic data among organisms allow the reconstruction of their phylogenies and evolutionary time scales. Molecular timings have been recently used to suggest that environmental global change have shaped the evolutionary history of diverse terrestrial organisms. Living xenarthrans (armadillos, anteaters and sloths) constitute an ideal model for studying the influence of past environmental changes on species diversification. Indeed, extant xenarthran species are relicts from an evolutionary radiation enhanced by their isolation in South America during the Tertiary era, a period for which major climate variations and tectonic events are relatively well documented. RESULTS: We applied a Bayesian approach to three nuclear genes in order to relax the molecular clock assumption while accounting for differences in evolutionary dynamics among genes and incorporating paleontological uncertainties. We obtained a molecular time scale for the evolution of extant xenarthrans and other placental mammals. Divergence time estimates provide substantial evidence for contemporaneous diversification events among independent xenarthran lineages. This correlated pattern of diversification might possibly relate to major environmental changes that occurred in South America during the Cenozoic. CONCLUSIONS: The observed synchronicity between planetary and biological events suggests that global change played a crucial role in shaping the evolutionary history of extant xenarthrans. Our findings open ways to test this hypothesis further in other South American mammalian endemics like hystricognath rodents, platyrrhine primates, and didelphid marsupials.

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  1. Carlini AA Vizcaíno SF Scillato-Yané GJ Kay RF, Cifelli RL, Flynn JJ, Madden RH Armoured xenarthrans: a unique taxonomic and ecologic assemblage Vertebrate Paleontology of the Miocene Honda Group, Republic of Colombia 1997 Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press 213 226
  2. Easteal S Molecular evidence for the early divergence of placental mammals Bioessays 1999 21 1052 1058 discussion 1059 10580990 10.1002/(SICI)1521-1878(199912)22:1<1052::AID-BIES9>3.0.CO;2-6 · DOI
  3. Gaudin TJ Wible JR Carrano MT, Gaudin TJ, Blob RW, Wible JR The phylogeny of living and extinct armadillos (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Cingulata): a craniodental analysis Amniote Paleobiology: Phylogenetic and Functional Perspectives on the Evolution of Mammals, Birds and Reptiles Chicago: University of Chicago Press

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Authors
Delsuc, F., Vizcaíno, S. F., & Douzery, E. J.
Affiliations
Université de Montpellier (FR)
Corresponding author
Delsuc, Frédéric
Venue
BMC Evolutionary Biology
Published
2004-04-28
Volume
4
Issue
1
Pages
11-11
ISSN
1471-2148 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2152423927
Cited by
212
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 16
FWCI
10.08
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • BMC Evolutionary Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Greater South Information System
Funders
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Plant Diversity and Evolution
Keywords
Xenarthra, armadillos, anteaters, sloths, divergence time estimation, global change, species diversification, placental mammals, South American mammals, Cenozoic, nuclear genes, phylogenomics
MeSH terms
Animals, Armadillos, Bayes Theorem, Disasters, Xenarthra, Models, Genetic, Mutation, Paleontology, Phylogeny, Sloths, South America, Species Specificity, Time Factors, von Willebrand Factor, Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2, Evolution, Molecular, Genes, BRCA1

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