Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40586172›Full record

ReviewEcology letters2025

Can Macroevolution Inform Contemporary Extinction Risk?

Sarah-Sophie Weil, Sébastien Lavergne, Florian C Boucher, William L Allen, Laure Gallien

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Ecology letters, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sarah-Sophie WeilDepartment of Biodiversity, Macroecology & Biogeography, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2280-9612
Sébastien LavergneUniversité Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, Grenoble, France.
Florian C BoucherUniversité Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, Grenoble, France.
William L AllenDepartment of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2654-0438
Laure GallienUniversité Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, Grenoble, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4882-1580

Funding

Dorothea Schlözer Programme "Career promotion of female scientists" (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)Initiative d'excellence (IDEX) International Strategic Partnership Scholarship (Université Grenoble Alpes)Swansea University Strategic Partner Research Scholarship (SUSPRS)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Current global changes are driving many species towards extinction, making the early detection of threatened species a priority for efficient conservation actions. However, the threat status of many species remains unknown due to insufficient data on updated distributions, population sizes and population trends and using ecological indicator traits, such as range size, is not always straightforward. Recent advances suggest that macroevolutionary indicators (rates of extinction, net diversification or niche evolution) could provide novel insights into extinction risk based on the assumption that macroevolutionary rates can serve as proxies for extinction-promoting traits (small range size, narrow niche breadth or low evolutionary potential). However, this assumption has not yet been sufficiently investigated to use this approach. Here, we assess current understanding of the assumptions underlying the relationship between macroevolutionary indices and contemporary extinction risk. We find that only past extinction rates can be reliable predictors of current extinction risk due to their correlation with inherited extinction-promoting traits. Assumptions underlying relationships between current extinction risk and diversification and niche evolution rates vary by taxon or ecological conditions, and require further investigation through targeted studies. When underlying assumptions are validated, macroevolutionary indicators could be promising tools complementing trait-based approaches in identifying inherent extinction risk.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionExtinction, BiologicalAnimalsConservation of Natural ResourcesEcosystemEndangered SpeciesModels, Biologicalconservationdiversification rateextinction rateextinction riskmacroevolutionmacroevolutionary ratesniche evolutionphylogenetic analysisspeciation ratetraits

Identifiers

PMID40586172
PMCPMC12207729

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.