1 Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico , Rio Piedras, PO Box 23360, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931 , USA.
2 Department of Biology, The University of Oklahoma , 730 Van Vleet Oval, Room 314, Norman, OK 73019 , USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2018 Dec 19;285(1893):20182010. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2010.
Ecological opportunity arising in the aftermath of mass extinction events is thought to be a powerful driver of evolutionary radiations. Here, we assessed how the wake of the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) mass extinction shaped diversification dynamics in a clade of mostly marine fishes (Carangaria), which comprises a disparate array of benthic and pelagic dwellers including some of the most astonishing fish forms (e.g. flatfishes, billfishes, remoras, archerfishes). Analyses of lineage diversification show time-heterogeneous rates of lineage diversification in carangarians, with highest rates reached during the Palaeocene. Likewise, a remarkable proportion of Carangaria's morphological variation originated early in the history of the group and in tandem with a marked incidence of habitat shifts. Taken together, these results suggest that all major lineages and body plans in Carangaria originated in an early burst shortly after the K-Pg mass extinction, which ultimately allowed the occupation of newly released niches along the benthic-pelagic habitat axis.
大灭绝事件后的生态机会被认为是进化辐射的强大驱动力。在这里，我们评估了白垩纪-古近纪（K-Pg）大灭绝之后如何塑造了一个主要生活在海洋中的鱼类（鲹形目）分支的多样化动态，该分支包括各种底栖和浮游生物居住者，包括一些最令人惊叹的鱼类形式（例如比目鱼、旗鱼、魟鱼、射水鱼）。谱系多样化分析显示，鲹形目鱼类的谱系多样化率具有时间异质性，在古新世达到最高水平。同样，鲹形目鱼类的形态变异很大一部分起源于该群体的早期历史，与栖息地转移的明显发生率同时发生。总之，这些结果表明，鲹形目鱼类的所有主要谱系和身体形态都起源于 K-Pg 大灭绝后不久的早期爆发，这最终允许它们在沿底栖-浮游生物生境轴释放的新小生境中占据一席之地。
