Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume
291
Issue
2029
PubMed ID
39191284
Publisher
The Royal Society Publishing
School
Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research / School of Science
RAS ID
71913
Funders
James Cook University / Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : FL19010006
Abstract
Diet has been identified as a major driver of reef fish lineage diversification, producing one of the most speciose vertebrate assemblages today. Yet, there is minimal understanding of how, when and why diet itself has evolved. To address this, we used a comprehensive gut content dataset, alongside a recently developed phylogenetic comparative method to assess multivariate prey use across a diverse animal assemblage, coral reef fishes. Specifically, we investigated the diversification, transitions and phylogenetic conservatism of fish diets through evolutionary time. We found two major pulses of diet diversification: one at the end-Cretaceous and one during the Eocene, suggesting that the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction probably provided the initial ecological landscape for fish diets to diversify. The birth of modern families during the Eocene then provided the foundation for a second wave of dietary expansion. Together, our findings showcase the role of extinction rebound events in shaping the dietary diversity of fishes on present-day coral reefs.
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2024.1004
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Ng, I., Bellwood, D. R., Strugnell, J. M., Parravicini, V., & Siqueira, A. C. (2024). The rise of dietary diversity in coral reef fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 291(2029). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1004