Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26 (iFZ), 35392, Giessen, Germany.
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2022 Feb 17;12(1):2684. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-06557-1.
The Mesozoic rise of the European freshwater gastropod fauna is still poorly understood. Compared to the well documented Cenozoic history, little is known about the patterns and processes underlying the early diversification preceding their extinction crisis at the K-Pg boundary. We assess what is probably a first pulse of diversification of the Cenozoic-type fauna in the Late Cretaceous along with the potential abiotic and biotic controls for shifts in species diversification. We find strong support that the increase in the speciation rate in the Santonian (~ 85 Myr ago) is linked to a global sea level rise, which caused extensive flooding of continental areas and the formation of vast brackish-water ecosystems. The following decline of the speciation rate coincides with a rise in diversity and reflects increasing interspecific competition. The peak in the speciation rate postdates the Cenomanian-Turonian Thermal Maximum, which probably limited the potential for diversification among freshwater gastropods due to ecological constraints. The peak coincides moreover with the end phase of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, which sparked the radiation of angiosperms. The expansion and diversification of flowering plants, being an important food source for freshwater gastropods today, could have formed a necessary basis for gastropod diversification.
中生代欧洲淡水腹足动物群的兴起仍然知之甚少。与有充分记录的新生代历史相比，对于在 K-Pg 边界灭绝危机之前发生的早期多样化模式和过程知之甚少。我们评估了可能是新生代型动物群在晚白垩世首次多样化的情况，以及物种多样化变化的潜在非生物和生物控制因素。我们强烈支持，在 Santonian 时期（约 8500 万年前），物种形成率的增加与全球海平面上升有关，这导致了大陆地区的广泛洪水泛滥，并形成了广阔的半咸水生态系统。随后物种形成率的下降与多样性的增加相吻合，反映了种间竞争的加剧。物种形成率的峰值出现在科曼期-图伦期热最大值之后，由于生态限制，这可能限制了淡水腹足动物的多样化潜力。此外，峰值与白垩纪陆地革命的结束阶段相吻合，这引发了被子植物的辐射。被子植物的扩张和多样化，作为当今淡水腹足动物的重要食物来源，可能为腹足动物的多样化形成了必要的基础。
