Journal Article

Revisiting the origin and diversification of vascular plants through a comprehensive Bayesian analysis of the fossil record

Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg (GU), ANR-10-BLAN-0607,TERRES,Perspectives globales sur le processus de Terrestrialisation, Silvestro, Daniele, Cascales-Miñana, Borja, Bacon, Christine D, Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Occitanie]), Antonelli, Alexandre

2015

Overview

Plants have a long evolutionary history, during which mass extinction events dramatically affected Earth's ecosystems and its biodiversity. The fossil record can shed light on the diversification dynamics of plant life and reveal how changes in the origination–extinction balance have contributed to shaping the current flora. We use a novel Bayesian approach to estimate origination and extinction rates in plants throughout their history. We focus on the effect of the ‘Big Five’ mass extinctions and on estimating the timing of origin of vascular plants, seed plants and angiosperms. * Our analyses show that plant diversification is characterized by several shifts in origination and extinction rates, often matching the most important geological boundaries. The estimated origin of major plant clades predates the oldest macrofossils when considering the uncertainties associated with the fossil record and the preservation process. Our findings show that the commonly recognized mass extinctions have affected each plant group differently and that phases of high extinction often coincided with major floral turnovers. For instance, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary we infer negligible shifts in diversification of nonflowering seed plants, but find significantly decreased extinction in spore-bearing plants and increased origination rates in angiosperms, contributing to their current ecological and evolutionary dominance

• Publisher: Wiley,CCSD,New Phytologist Trust,Wiley Subscription Services, Inc,Blackwell Publishing,John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subject: Angiospermae / ANGIOSPERMS / ATES OF AMERICA / Bayes Theorem / Bayesian analysis / Bayesian theory / Biodiversity / Biodiversity and Ecology / biodiversity changes / Biological Evolution / Biologie végétale (sciences végétales, sylviculture, mycologie...) / Botanik / Botany / Cretaceous / CRETACEOUS-PALEOGENE BOUNDARY / DIVERGENCE TIMES / Diversification / ecosystems / Environmental Sciences / EVOLUTION / Extinction / Extinction, Biological / Flora / floristic turnover / Flowers / Flowers & plants / Fossils / Geological Phenomena / KINETIC-MODEL / LAND PLANTS / Life sciences / Magnoliopsida / mass extinction / Mass extinctions / P15253 / P21396 / P5897 / Paleogene / PERMIAN / PHANEROZOIC TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY / Phylogeny / Phytobiology (plant sciences, forestry, mycology...) / plant fossils / Plant Sciences / Plants / Plants - genetics / Probability theory / PyRate / Sciences du vivant / SEED FERNS / Species extinction / Spores / V107 / V108 / V109 / VARISCAN EURAMERICA / vascular plants