ArticleBMC ecology and evolution2026
How toothed whales divide up the world: phylogeny and ecology shape life-history strategies of odontocetes.
Article in BMC ecology and evolution, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding the evolution of life-history strategies within a taxonomic guild offers critical insights into how species allocate energy toward growth, reproduction, and survival in response to environmental pressures. We examined 42 odontocete whale species using six key life-history traits and three major environmental variables- latitude, bathymetry, and sea ice -to identify broad patterns in ecological and evolutionary strategies.
resultsWhile controlling for body size and phylogenetic relatedness, we used archetypal clustering analysis to identify three groups of species according to shared life-history characteristics: bet-hedging, slow, and fast. We then assessed environmental associations among these three life-history strategies. Ancestral state reconstruction was used to disentangle the roles of phylogenetic constraint and ecological adaptation in shaping these strategies. Our results reveal convergence in life-history traits among distantly related species occupying deep, offshore habitats, suggesting that environmental similarity can drive parallel evolutionary outcomes. In contrast, species inhabiting more ephemeral, high-latitude environments with seasonal sea ice exhibit lineage-specific adaptations, reflecting a stronger influence of evolutionary history.
conclusionsThese findings offer a framework for tailoring conservation strategies to the distinct ecological profiles of odontocete groups, accounting for factors such as exposure to anthropogenic stressors, reliance on specialized habitats, and inherently slow recovery rates following human exploitation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.