Questions: What is the shape of occupancy trajectories in fossil organisms? And what is the effect of occupancy on species survival? Data studied: Occupancy and its course through time for a species in extinct large mammal communities from Italy. Search method: We tested if occupancy (the proportion of fossil sites representing a given paleocommunity where a species is present) patterns in extinct communities match a bimodal distribution as in living communities. Then we regressed occupancy on species duration to estimate its effect on long-term survival. We built a null model of random occupancy trajectories and compared it to real data. Conclusions: The occupancy–frequency distribution in extinct communities is either bimodal or right skewed. We found a positive relationship between high occupancy and species survival. We found peaked occupancy trajectories to be the norm for hoofed mammals at least.
Feeding habits of fossil and living carnivores as revealed by geometric morphometrics of mandible shape
LOY, Anna;
2006-01-01
Abstract
Questions: What is the shape of occupancy trajectories in fossil organisms? And what is the effect of occupancy on species survival? Data studied: Occupancy and its course through time for a species in extinct large mammal communities from Italy. Search method: We tested if occupancy (the proportion of fossil sites representing a given paleocommunity where a species is present) patterns in extinct communities match a bimodal distribution as in living communities. Then we regressed occupancy on species duration to estimate its effect on long-term survival. We built a null model of random occupancy trajectories and compared it to real data. Conclusions: The occupancy–frequency distribution in extinct communities is either bimodal or right skewed. We found a positive relationship between high occupancy and species survival. We found peaked occupancy trajectories to be the norm for hoofed mammals at least.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.