Phylogenetic biome conservatism as a key concept for an integrative understanding of evolutionary history: Galliformes and Falconiformes as study cases

• Published in: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
• Main Authors: Pelegrin, J.S., Cantalapiedra, J.L., Gamboa, S., Menéndez, Iris
• Other Authors: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Inc 2023
• Subjects: Tundra
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/359363; https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac080

Biomes are climatically and biotically distinctive macroecological units that formed over geological time scales. Their features consolidate them as ‘evolutionary scenarios’, with their own diversification dynamics. Under the concept of phylogenetic niche conservatism, we assessed, for the first time, the evolution of biome occupation in birds. We aimed to analyse patterns of adaptation to different climatic regimes and the determinant factors for colonization of emerging biomes by clades from different ancestral biomes. In this work, we reconstructed the biome occupation history of two clades of birds (Galliformes and Falconiformes) under an integrative perspective through a comprehensive review of ecological, phylogenetic, palaeontological and biogeographical evidence. Our findings for both groups are consistent with a scenario of phylogenetic biome conservatism and highlight the importance of changes in climate during the Miocene in the adaptation and evolution of climatic niches. In particular, our results indicate high biome conservatism associated with biomes situated in some of the extremes of the global climate gradient (evergreen tropical rainforest, steppe and tundra) for both bird taxa. Finally, the historical dynamics of tropical seasonal biomes, such as tropical deciduous woodlands and savannas, appear to have played a preponderant role during the diversification processes of these bird lineages. We thank the PMMV (paleoclimatology, macroecology and macroevolution of vertebrates) team for their continuous discussions and feedback. Christian Díaz (La Salle University, Philippines) is acknowledged for reading an earlier version of the manuscript. This is a contribution of the Research Group UCM 910607 on Evolution of Cenozoic Mammals and Continental Paleoenvironments and the Research Group in Ecology and Conservation of Biodiversity (EcoBio). J.S.P. was supported by a doctoral grant from Colciencias (Colombian administrative department for Science and Innovation) and this research has been funded by ...