Spatial and Temporal Arrival Patterns of Madagascar's Vertebrate Fauna Explained by Distance, Ocean Currents, and Ancestor Type

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2012 Mar 21

PMID 22431643

Citations 40

Authors

Karen E Samonds

Laurie R Godfrey

Jason R Ali

Steven M Goodman

Miguel Vences

Michael R Sutherland

Mitchell T Irwin

David W Krause

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

How, when, and from where Madagascar's vertebrates arrived on the island is poorly known, and a comprehensive explanation for the distribution of its organisms has yet to emerge. We begin to break that impasse by analyzing vertebrate arrival patterns implied by currently existing taxa. For each of 81 clades, we compiled arrival date, source, and ancestor type (obligate freshwater, terrestrial, facultative swimmer, or volant). We analyzed changes in arrival rates, with and without adjusting for clade extinction. Probability of successful transoceanic dispersal is negatively correlated with distance traveled and influenced by ocean currents and ancestor type. Obligate rafters show a decrease in probability of successful transoceanic dispersal from the Paleocene onward, reaching the lowest levels after the mid-Miocene. This finding is consistent with a paleoceanographic model [Ali JR, Huber M (2010) Nature 463:653-656] that predicts Early Cenozoic surface currents periodically conducive to rafting or swimming from Africa, followed by a reconfiguration to present-day flow 15-20 million years ago that significantly diminished the ability for transoceanic dispersal to Madagascar from the adjacent mainland.

Citing Articles

A conservation planning strategy applied to the evolutionary history of the mantellid frogs of Madagascar.

Ferreira M, Belluardo F, Cocca W, Crottini A, Carvalho S NPJ Biodivers. 2024; 2(1):21.

PMID: 39242839 PMC: 11332064. DOI: 10.1038/s44185-023-00024-4.

Ancient DNA elucidates the lost world of western Indian Ocean giant tortoises and reveals a new extinct species from Madagascar.

Kehlmaier C, Gracia E, Ali J, Campbell P, Chapman S, Deepak V Sci Adv. 2023; 9(2):eabq2574.

PMID: 36630487 PMC: 9833658. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2574.

Ecological and Oceanographic Perspectives in Future Marine Fungal Taxonomy.

Wijayawardene N, Dai D, Jayasinghe P, Gunasekara S, Nagano Y, Tibpromma S J Fungi (Basel). 2022; 8(11).

PMID: 36354908 PMC: 9696965. DOI: 10.3390/jof8111141.

Earth and life evolve together from something ancestral-reply to Britz .

Yamahira K, Fujimoto S, Takami Y Biol Lett. 2022; 18(3):20220010.

PMID: 35317628 PMC: 8941419. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0010.

Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene "horned" crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus.

Hekkala E, Gatesy J, Narechania A, Meredith R, Russello M, Aardema M Commun Biol. 2021; 4(1):505.

PMID: 33907305 PMC: 8079395. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0.

References

Noonan B, Chippindale P . Vicariant origin of malagasy reptiles supports late cretaceous antarctic land bridge. Am Nat. 2006; 168(6):730-41. DOI: 10.1086/509052. View

Kappeler P . Lemur origins: rafting by groups of hibernators?. Folia Primatol (Basel). 2001; 71(6):422-5. DOI: 10.1159/000052741. View

Gomez-Mestre I, Tejedo M . Local adaptation of an anuran amphibian to osmotically stressful environments. Evolution. 2003; 57(8):1889-99. DOI: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb00596.x. View

Bourjea J, Lapegue S, Gagnevin L, Broderick D, Mortimer J, Ciccione S . Phylogeography of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in the Southwest Indian Ocean. Mol Ecol. 2006; 16(1):175-86. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.03122.x. View

Weyeneth N, Goodman S, Appleton B, Wood R, Ruedi M . Wings or winds: inferring bat migration in a stepping-stone archipelago. J Evol Biol. 2011; 24(6):1298-306. DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02262.x. View

Vences M, Vieites D, Glaw F, Brinkmann H, Kosuch J, Veith M . Multiple overseas dispersal in amphibians. Proc Biol Sci. 2003; 270(1532):2435-42. PMC: 1691525. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2516. View

Yoder A, Burns M, Zehr S, Delefosse T, Veron G, Goodman S . Single origin of Malagasy Carnivora from an African ancestor. Nature. 2003; 421(6924):734-7. DOI: 10.1038/nature01303. View

Barker F, Cibois A, Schikler P, Feinstein J, Cracraft J . Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004; 101(30):11040-5. PMC: 503738. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0401892101. View

Poux C, Madsen O, Marquard E, Vieites D, de Jong W, Vences M . Asynchronous colonization of Madagascar by the four endemic clades of primates, tenrecs, carnivores, and rodents as inferred from nuclear genes. Syst Biol. 2005; 54(5):719-30. DOI: 10.1080/10635150500234534. View

10.

Queiroz A . The resurrection of oceanic dispersal in historical biogeography. Trends Ecol Evol. 2006; 20(2):68-73. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2004.11.006. View

11.

McCall R . Implications of recent geological investigations of the Mozambique Channel for the mammalian colonization of Madagascar. Proc Biol Sci. 1997; 264(1382):663-5. PMC: 1688410. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1997.0094. View

12.

Krause D . Biogeography: Washed up in Madagascar. Nature. 2010; 463(7281):613-4. DOI: 10.1038/463613a. View

13.

Crottini A, Madsen O, Poux C, Strauss A, Vieites D, Vences M . Vertebrate time-tree elucidates the biogeographic pattern of a major biotic change around the K-T boundary in Madagascar. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109(14):5358-63. PMC: 3325728. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1112487109. View

14.

Ali J, Huber M . Mammalian biodiversity on Madagascar controlled by ocean currents. Nature. 2010; 463(7281):653-6. DOI: 10.1038/nature08706. View

15.

Carranza S, Arnold E, Mateo J, Lopez-Jurado L . Long-distance colonization and radiation in gekkonid lizards, Tarentola (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences. Proc Biol Sci. 2000; 267(1444):637-49. PMC: 1690580. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2000.1050. View