Paleoenvironments shaped the exchange of terrestrial vertebrates across Wallace's Line


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Date

2023-07-07

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

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Abstract

Faunal turnover in Indo-Australia across Wallace's Line is one of the most recognizable patterns in biogeography and has catalyzed debate about the role of evolutionary and geoclimatic history in biotic interchanges. Here, analysis of more than 20,000 vertebrate species with a model of geoclimate and biological diversification shows that broad precipitation tolerance and dispersal ability were key for exchange across the deep-time precipitation gradient spanning the region. Sundanian (Southeast Asian) lineages evolved in a climate similar to the humid "stepping stones" of Wallacea, facilitating colonization of the Sahulian (Australian) continental shelf. By contrast, Sahulian lineages predominantly evolved in drier conditions, hampering establishment in Sunda and shaping faunal distinctiveness. We demonstrate how the history of adaptation to past environmental conditions shapes asymmetrical colonization and global biogeographic structure.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Journal / series

Volume

381 (6653)

Pages / Article No.

86 - 92

Publisher

AAAS

Event

Edition / version

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Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

Organisational unit

09553 - Pellissier, Loïc / Pellissier, Loïc check_circle

Notes

Funding

ETH-34 18-1 - From spatial diversification models to population genomics: a macro- to micro-evolutionary continuum (ETHZ)

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