Regions rich in biome specialists (e.g., Southeast Asia) show phylogenetically clustered faunas, reflecting past bursts of speciation.
Meanwhile, recent radiations are linked to Pleistocene climate shifts and large-scale dispersal events.
New #AmniotaLab research!
Squirrels 🐿️ include more biome specialists than expected by chance, supporting 𝗩𝗿𝗯𝗮’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲-𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀: species restricted to a single biome speciate faster when climatic change fragments habitats.
👇 #OA
#Efeméride La paleontóloga Nieves López Martínez (1949-2010) nació un 5 de febrero.
Fue una de las responsables de la modernización de los estudios paleontológicos en España.
Representación de las mujeres en geología y paleontología en libros de divulgación científica: una mirada crítica a los sesgos de disciplina, lengua y origen geográfico
paleontologiamexicana.geologia.unam.mx/index.php/pa...
Graphs showing publication metrics for marine mammal paleontology divided by men v. women, 'global north' v. Latin American authors, and mixed author sets.
A fascinating analysis by Ana Valenzuela-Toro Mariana Viglino, and (another Otago labmate) Carolina Loch analyzed marine mammal paleontology publication metrics in Latin America and quantified just how much women, and latin americans are underrepresented on author lists & under-cited (it's a lot).
¿Por qué hay tantas especies de ardillas y por qué no están repartidas de forma uniforme por el planeta?
ucm.es/especies-ard...
sobre doi.org/10.1111/jbi....
1️⃣ Not all squirrels are generalists.
Many species are biome specialists, restricted to a single habitat (rainforest, steppe, etc.)
2️⃣ According to the resource-use hypothesis (Elisabeth Vrba), specialists should generate more species during climate change, because their populations fragment more easily.
👉 But does this actually happen in nature? We tested it using squirrels.
3️⃣ 📊 The key result:
👉 There are far more specialist squirrels than expected by chance.
This supports the idea that specialization is not (only) an evolutionary dead end.
4️⃣ 🌱 But not all biomes behave the same.
Tropical rainforests and steppes host more specialists than expected.
Deserts and tundra do not (partly because they host very few species).
5️⃣ 🗺️ Where are the main hotspots?
Southeast Asia — especially Borneo — stands out with extremely high species richness… and most species there are endemic specialists.
6️⃣ 🌳 Interestingly, these species-rich regions show low phylogenetic diversity:
many species, but closely related 👉 a signal of rapid past speciation.
8️⃣ 🚨 Conservation message:
Regions like the Sunda Shelf are top priorities:
✔️ Many specialists
✔️ High endemism
✔️ High sensitivity to climate change
9️⃣ 📄 Open-access paper in Journal of Biogeography:
“Biome Specialisation in Squirrels: Phylogenetic and Geographic Patterns”
👉 doi.org/10.1111/jbi....
🐿️🌍 If you’re interested in how climate, evolution, and biodiversity connect… this paper is for you.
Biome specialization in squirrels: phylogenetic and geographic patterns doi.org/10.1111/jbi....
by @paleoiris.bsky.social et al.
Do marine mammals diversify more slowly than non-marine mammals? doi.org/10.1111/jbi....
Agradecemos a @sepaleontologia.bsky.social la noticia sobre nuestro último trabajo en paleoclimatología del Cuaternario, publicado en doi.org/10.5194/cp-2...
Agradecemos a @sepaleontologia.bsky.social la noticia sobre nuestro último trabajo "a la sombra de los Andes" en doi.org/10.1111/1749...
¡Nueva publicación de soci@s! 🗣️
Un nuevo estudio liderado por @fernandoblancos.bsky.social explora cómo los cambios ambientales impactaron en los grandes #mamíferos y sus ecosistemas durante el Neógeno 🐘🌍
👉 Léelo aquí:
https://sepaleontologia.es/?p=1423
#SEPsocios #Paleontología #CambioClimático
¡Nueva publicación de soci@s! 🗣️
Una investigación liderada por @nebreda.bsky.social sugiere que la evolución del vuelo en dinosaurios 🦅 ya estaba condicionada desde el embrión.
👉 Descúbrela aquí:
https://sepaleontologia.es/portfolio-item/macroevolucion-y-embriologia/
#SEPsocios #Dinosaurios #Aves
Great new paper on the evolution of birds - showing how changes in forelimbs (becoming wings) and legs were linked together. I LOVE research like this which reveals the secrets of how evolution works - how development, genetics, form are all joined up: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Hoy en Madrid hay huelga en defensa de la Universidad pública/ today in Madrid we go on strike to defend public univerities
("Today I wake up and strike", writing on a wall, Bologna, some years ago)
Body size regulates niche overlap asymmetry in the subtropical Andes rain shadow: Isotopic paleoecology of Oligocene South American ungulates
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by @dasanz.bsky.social et al.
Late Pleistocene temperature patterns in the Western Palearctic: insights from rodent associations compared with general circulation models
cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/...
Thrilled that our paper “The division of food space among mammalian species on biomes” has been selected as October’s Editor’s Choice in @ecography.bsky.social ! 📰✨👇 sl1nk.com/AG7BC
Huge thanks to Rafa Barrientos for the pic (I mean, Rafa is the photographer, not the stunning monkey 🐒)
Diez datos que sitúan a Madrid como la comunidad que peor trata a su universidad pública www.eldiario.es/1_c07aac?utm...
Desprendimiento de rocas ocurrido ayer en el Cirque du Fer à Cheval, Francia. Se derrumbaron 12.000 metros cúbicos de rocas
En cuestión de semanas, los primeros brotes verdes emergen entre las cenizas, transformando el paisaje devastado en un mosaico inesperado de vida.
New paper out!
This review looks at 30 years of stable isotope studies on South American fossil mammals, exploring research trends, paleoecological insights, and future directions.
@mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social @igeociencias.bsky.social @hdezfdez.bsky.social
🔗 www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/15...
Stable isotopes (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, δ¹⁵N) have revolutionized paleoecology studies. But how have these tools been applied in South America, one of the world’s richest fossil archives? ⚛️🌎
This is the first bibliometric and conceptual review to answer that question.
