Ecological selectivity and the evolution of mammalian substrate preference across the K-Pg boundary.

ABSTRACT: The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction 66 million years ago was characterized by a worldwide ecological catastrophe and rapid species turnover. Large-scale devastation of forested environments resulting from the Chicxulub asteroid impact likely influenced the evolutionary trajectories of multiple clades in terrestrial environments, and it has been hypothesized to have biased survivorship in favour of nonarboreal lineages across the K-Pg boundary. Here, we evaluate patterns of substrate preferences across the K-Pg boundary among crown group mammals, a group that underwent rapid diversification following the mass extinction. Using Bayesian, likelihood, and parsimony reconstructions, we identify patterns of mammalian ecological selectivity that are broadly similar to those previously

SUBMITTER: Hughes JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8571592 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature