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Article: Mammalian biodiversity on Madagascar controlled by ocean currents

TitleMammalian biodiversity on Madagascar controlled by ocean currents
Authors
Issue Date2010
PublisherNature Publishing Group. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.nature.com/nature
Citation
Nature, 2010, v. 463 n. 7281, p. 653-656 How to Cite?
AbstractMadagascar hosts one of the worldĝ€™s most unusual, endemic, diverse and threatened concentrations of fauna. To explain its unique, imbalanced biological diversity, G. G. Simpson proposed the ∼ sweepstakes hypothesis, according to which the ancestors of Madagascars present-day mammal stock rafted there from Africa. This is an important hypothesis in biogeography and evolutionary theory for how animals colonize new frontiers, but its validity is questioned. Studies suggest that currents were inconsistent with rafting to Madagascar and that land bridges provided the migrantsg passage. Here we show that currents could have transported the animals to the island and highlight evidence inconsistent with the land-bridge hypothesis. Using palaeogeographic reconstructions and palaeo-oceanographic modelling, we find that strong surface currents flowed from northeast Mozambique and Tanzania eastward towards Madagascar during the Palaeogene period, exactly as required by the ∼ sweepstakes process. Subsequently, Madagascar advanced north towards the equatorial gyre and the regional current system evolved into its modern configuration with flows westward from Madagascar to Africa. This may explain why no fully non-aquatic land mammals have colonized Madagascar since the arrival of the rodents and carnivorans during the early-Miocene epoch. One implication is that rafting may be the dominant means of overseas dispersal in the Cenozoic era when palaeocurrent directions are properly considered. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/124650
ISSN
2021 Impact Factor: 69.504
2020 SCImago Journal Rankings: 15.993
ISI Accession Number ID
Funding AgencyGrant Number
US National Science Foundation (NSF)0927946-ATM
Funding Information:

M. Nowak, W. de Ruijter, I. Tattersall and A. Yoder supplied reprints. J. Aitchison, R. Corlett and A. Switzer are thanked for sharing information. M. H. is supported by US National Science Foundation (NSF) grant 0927946-ATM and uses the US National Center for Atmospheric Research CCSM, which is supported by the NSF. M. H. acknowledges conversations with P. Koch and D. Raup on vicariance biogeography. All computing was performed at the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, which is part of Information Technology at Purdue, Purdue University.

References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorAli, JRen_HK
dc.contributor.authorHuber, Men_HK
dc.date.accessioned2010-10-31T10:46:26Z-
dc.date.available2010-10-31T10:46:26Z-
dc.date.issued2010en_HK
dc.identifier.citationNature, 2010, v. 463 n. 7281, p. 653-656en_HK
dc.identifier.issn0028-0836en_HK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/124650-
dc.description.abstractMadagascar hosts one of the worldĝ€™s most unusual, endemic, diverse and threatened concentrations of fauna. To explain its unique, imbalanced biological diversity, G. G. Simpson proposed the ∼ sweepstakes hypothesis, according to which the ancestors of Madagascars present-day mammal stock rafted there from Africa. This is an important hypothesis in biogeography and evolutionary theory for how animals colonize new frontiers, but its validity is questioned. Studies suggest that currents were inconsistent with rafting to Madagascar and that land bridges provided the migrantsg passage. Here we show that currents could have transported the animals to the island and highlight evidence inconsistent with the land-bridge hypothesis. Using palaeogeographic reconstructions and palaeo-oceanographic modelling, we find that strong surface currents flowed from northeast Mozambique and Tanzania eastward towards Madagascar during the Palaeogene period, exactly as required by the ∼ sweepstakes process. Subsequently, Madagascar advanced north towards the equatorial gyre and the regional current system evolved into its modern configuration with flows westward from Madagascar to Africa. This may explain why no fully non-aquatic land mammals have colonized Madagascar since the arrival of the rodents and carnivorans during the early-Miocene epoch. One implication is that rafting may be the dominant means of overseas dispersal in the Cenozoic era when palaeocurrent directions are properly considered. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.en_HK
dc.languageengen_HK
dc.publisherNature Publishing Group. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.nature.com/natureen_HK
dc.relation.ispartofNatureen_HK
dc.subject.meshAnimalsen_HK
dc.subject.meshAustraliaen_HK
dc.subject.meshBiodiversityen_HK
dc.subject.meshGeographyen_HK
dc.subject.meshHistory, Ancienten_HK
dc.subject.meshIndian Oceanen_HK
dc.subject.meshMadagascaren_HK
dc.subject.meshMammals - classificationen_HK
dc.subject.meshModels, Theoreticalen_HK
dc.subject.meshMozambiqueen_HK
dc.subject.meshPhylogenyen_HK
dc.subject.meshTanzaniaen_HK
dc.subject.meshWater Movementsen_HK
dc.subject.meshWinden_HK
dc.titleMammalian biodiversity on Madagascar controlled by ocean currentsen_HK
dc.typeArticleen_HK
dc.identifier.openurlhttp://library.hku.hk:4550/resserv?sid=HKU:IR&issn=0028-0836&volume=463&spage=653–656.&epage=&date=2010&atitle=Mammalian+biodiversity+on+Madagascar+controlled+by+ocean+currentsen_HK
dc.identifier.emailAli, JR:jrali@hku.hken_HK
dc.identifier.authorityAli, JR=rp00659en_HK
dc.description.naturelink_to_subscribed_fulltext-
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/nature08706en_HK
dc.identifier.pmid20090678-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-76249088920en_HK
dc.identifier.hkuros181425en_HK
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-76249088920&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_HK
dc.identifier.volume463en_HK
dc.identifier.issue7281en_HK
dc.identifier.spage653en_HK
dc.identifier.epage656en_HK
dc.identifier.eissn1476-4687-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000274193900034-
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdomen_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridAli, JR=7102266465en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridHuber, M=7202671706en_HK
dc.identifier.issnl0028-0836-

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