Work

Major body size change in an extinct tropical island mammal associated with glacial-interglacial environmental shifts

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: C values indicate the small morph was associated with open savanna and the large morph was associated with tropical forest. This allochronic change does not match the Island Rule or Bergmann's Rule, and may have been driven by an end-Pleistocene shift to high-productivity forest. Size morph replacement could reflect distributional shifts in niche-differentiated species or a rapid evolutionary response to climatic change. Our study demonstrates the resilience of some species to natural change but their vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures.

Source: iScience

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113968

Authors: Samuel T. Turvey, Angela L. Lamb, Phil Rye, Abel Vale Nieves, Joanne H. Cooper, Peter van Calsteren

Institutions: Zoological Society of London, British Geological Survey, Natural History Museum, The Open University

Language: English

Topic: Evolution and Paleontology Studies

Subfield: Paleontology

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,240