Macroevolutionary Analyses Suggest That Environmental Factors, Not Venom Apparatus, Play Key Role in Terebridae Marine Snail Diversification.

ABSTRACT: How species diversification occurs remains an unanswered question in predatory marine invertebrates, such as sea snails of the family Terebridae. However, the anatomical disparity found throughput the Terebridae provides a unique perspective for investigating diversification patterns in venomous predators. In this study, a new dated molecular phylogeny of the Terebridae is used as a framework for investigating diversification of the family through time, and for testing the putative role of intrinsic and extrinsic traits, such as shell size, larval ecology, bathymetric distribution, and anatomical features of the venom apparatus, as drivers of terebrid species diversification. Macroevolutionary analysis revealed that when diversification rates do not vary across Terebridae clades, the whole

SUBMITTER: Modica MV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7164365 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature