German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
Science. 2023 Mar 10;379(6636):1054-1059. doi: 10.1126/science.add8606. Epub 2023 Mar 9.
Islands have long been recognized as distinctive evolutionary arenas leading to morphologically divergent species, such as dwarfs and giants. We assessed how body size evolution in island mammals may have exacerbated their vulnerability, as well as how human arrival has contributed to their past and ongoing extinctions, by integrating data on 1231 extant and 350 extinct species from islands and paleo islands worldwide spanning the past 23 million years. We found that the likelihood of extinction and of endangerment are highest in the most extreme island dwarfs and giants. Extinction risk of insular mammals was compounded by the arrival of modern humans, which accelerated extinction rates more than 10-fold, resulting in an almost complete demise of these iconic marvels of island evolution.
岛屿长期以来被认为是独特的进化场所，导致形态上的差异，如矮化和巨型化。我们通过整合过去 2300 万年来来自全球岛屿和古岛屿的 1231 种现存物种和 350 种灭绝物种的数据，评估了岛屿哺乳动物的体型进化可能如何加剧它们的脆弱性，以及人类的到来如何导致它们过去和现在的灭绝。我们发现，最极端的岛屿矮化和巨型化物种灭绝的可能性和濒危程度最高。现代人类的到来加剧了岛屿哺乳动物的灭绝风险，使灭绝速度加快了 10 多倍，导致这些岛屿进化标志性奇观几乎完全灭绝。
