ArticleNature ecology & evolution2022
Morphological volatility precedes ecological innovation in early echinoderms.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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7 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The end-Cretaceous mass extinction restructured functional diversity but failed to configure the modern marine biota.Science advances · 2025Article
- Morphological innovation did not drive diversification in Mesozoic-Cenozoic brachiopods.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024Article
- Cambrian origin but no early burst in functional disparity for Class Bivalvia.Biology letters · 2023Article
- Is species richness mediated by functional and genetic divergence? A global analysis in birds.Functional ecology · 2023Article
- Early echinoderms decouple form and function.Nature ecology & evolution · 2022Article
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11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Origins of higher taxonomic groups entail dramatic and nearly simultaneous changes in morphology and ecological function, limiting our ability to disentangle the drivers of evolutionary diversification. Here we phylogenetically compare the anatomy and life habits of Cambrian-Ordovician echinoderms to test which facet better facilitates future success. Rates of morphological evolution are faster and involve more volatile trait changes, allowing morphological disparity to accrue faster and earlier in the Cambrian. However, persistent life-habit evolution throughout the early Palaeozoic, combined with iterative functional convergence within adaptive strategies, results in major expansion of ecospace and functional diversity. The interactions between tempo, divergence and convergence demonstrate not only that anatomical novelty precedes ecological success, but also that ecological innovation is constrained, even during a phylum's origin.
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