TY - JOUR
T1 - Evolutionary causes and consequences of ungulate migration
AU - Abraham, Joel O.
AU - Upham, Nathan S.
AU - Damian-Serrano, Alejandro
AU - Jesmer, Brett R.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank A. C. Staver, E. J. Sargis, J. T. Faith and G. P. Hempson for the many thought-provoking discussions regarding ungulate migration and mammal evolution that inspired this project. We also thank the Edwards and Dunn laboratories at Yale University and Pringle laboratory at Princeton University for providing helpful feedback on this work. Finally, we thank J. R. Goheen for valuable feedback on the manuscript. J.O.A. was supported by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP 2019256075) and N.S.U. was supported by the NSF VertLife Terrestrial grant (DEB 1441737) and Arizona State University President’s Special Initiative Fund.
Funding Information:
We thank A. C. Staver, E. J. Sargis, J. T. Faith and G. P. Hempson for the many thought-provoking discussions regarding ungulate migration and mammal evolution that inspired this project. We also thank the Edwards and Dunn laboratories at Yale University and Pringle laboratory at Princeton University for providing helpful feedback on this work. Finally, we thank J. R. Goheen for valuable feedback on the manuscript. J.O.A. was supported by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP 2019256075) and N.S.U. was supported by the NSF VertLife Terrestrial grant (DEB 1441737) and Arizona State University President’s Special Initiative Fund.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Ungulate migrations are crucial for maintaining abundant populations and functional ecosystems. However, little is known about how or why migratory behaviour evolved in ungulates. To investigate the evolutionary origins of ungulate migration, we employed phylogenetic path analysis using a comprehensive species-level phylogeny of mammals. We found that 95 of 207 extant ungulate species are at least partially migratory, with migratory behaviour originating independently in 17 lineages. The evolution of migratory behaviour is associated with reliance on grass forage and living at higher latitudes wherein seasonal resource waves are most prevalent. Indeed, originations coincide with mid-Miocene cooling and the subsequent rise of C4 grasslands. Also, evolving migratory behaviour supported the evolution of larger bodies, allowing ungulates to exploit new ecological space. Reconstructions of migratory behaviour further revealed that seven of ten recently extinct species were probably migratory, suggesting that contemporary migrations are important models for understanding the ecology of the past.
AB - Ungulate migrations are crucial for maintaining abundant populations and functional ecosystems. However, little is known about how or why migratory behaviour evolved in ungulates. To investigate the evolutionary origins of ungulate migration, we employed phylogenetic path analysis using a comprehensive species-level phylogeny of mammals. We found that 95 of 207 extant ungulate species are at least partially migratory, with migratory behaviour originating independently in 17 lineages. The evolution of migratory behaviour is associated with reliance on grass forage and living at higher latitudes wherein seasonal resource waves are most prevalent. Indeed, originations coincide with mid-Miocene cooling and the subsequent rise of C4 grasslands. Also, evolving migratory behaviour supported the evolution of larger bodies, allowing ungulates to exploit new ecological space. Reconstructions of migratory behaviour further revealed that seven of ten recently extinct species were probably migratory, suggesting that contemporary migrations are important models for understanding the ecology of the past.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41559-022-01749-4
DO - 10.1038/s41559-022-01749-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 35513579
AN - SCOPUS:85129553674
SN - 2397-334X
VL - 6
SP - 998
EP - 1006
JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution
JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution
IS - 7
ER -