Are most species small? Not within species-level phylogenies
Orme, C. David L.; Isaac, Nick J. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4869-8052; Purvis, Andy.
2002
Are most species small? Not within species-level phylogenies.
Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 269 (1497).
1279.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2003
Abstract/Summary
The robust macro-ecological observation that there are more small-bodied species implies that smallbodied organisms have experienced elevated net rates of diversification. We investigate the role of body size in creating non-random differences in rates of cladogenesis using a set of 38 species-level phylogenies drawn from a range of animal groups. We use independent contrasts to explore the relationship between body size and species richness within individual phylogenies and across related sets of phylogenies. We also carry out a meta-analysis looking for associations between body size and species richness across the taxa. We find little evidence for increased cladogenesis among small-bodied organisms within taxa, and no evidence for any consistent differences between taxa. We explore possible explanations for the inconsistency of our findings with macro-ecological patterns.
Item Type: | Publication - Article |
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Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2003 |
Programmes: | CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Biodiversity |
ISSN: | 09628452 |
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.: | NERC-funded research undertaken by Imperial College |
Additional Keywords: | Diversity, Speciation, Phylogeny, Body Size |
NORA Subject Terms: | Biology and Microbiology Zoology |
Date made live: | 17 Sep 2008 21:21 +0 (UTC) |
URI: | https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/3779 |
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