Restricted access
Articles
ArticlesHow big should a mammal be? A macroecological look at mammalian body size over space and time
Published:27 August 2011https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0067
Abstract
Macroecology was developed as a big picture statistical approach to the study of ecology and evolution. By focusing on broadly occurring patterns and processes operating at large spatial and temporal scales rather than on localized and/or fine-scaled details, macroecology aims to uncover general mechanisms operating at organism, population, and ecosystem levels of organization. Macroecological studies typically involve the statistical analysis of fundamental species-level traits, such as body size, area of geographical range, and average density and/or abundance. Here, we briefly review the history of macroecology and use the body size of mammals as a case study to highlight current developments in the field, including the increasing linkage with biogeography and other disciplines. Characterizing the factors underlying the spatial and temporal patterns of body size variation in mammals is a daunting task and moreover, one not readily amenable to traditional statistical analyses. Our results clearly illustrate remarkable regularities in the distribution and variation of mammalian body size across both geographical space and evolutionary time that are related to ecology and trophic dynamics and that would not be apparent without a broader perspective.
Footnotes
References
- 1
Sondaar P. Y. . 1977Insularity and its effect on mammal evolution. Major patterns of vertebrate evolution (eds, Hecht M. K., Goody P. C.& Hecht B. M. ), pp. 671–707. New York, NY: Plenum. Google Scholar - 2
Vartanyan S. L., Garutt V. E.& Sher A. V. . 1993Holocene dwarf mammoths from Wrangel Island in the Siberian Arctic. Nature 362, 337–340.doi:10.1038/362337a0 (doi:10.1038/362337a0). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 3
Agenbroad L. D., Morris D.& Roth L. . 1999Pygmy mammoths Mammuthus exilis from Channel Islands National Park, California USA. Mammoths and mammoth fauna: studies of an extinct ecosystem (eds, Haynes G., Klimowicz J.& Reumer J. W. F. ), Deinsea, vol. 6, pp. 89–102. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Rotterdam Natural History Museum. Google Scholar - 4
Guthrie R. D. . 2004Radiocarbon evidence of mid-Holocene mammoths stranded on an Alaskan Bering Sea island. Nature 429, 746–749.doi:10.1038/nature02612 (doi:10.1038/nature02612). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 5
Palombo M. R. . 2004Dwarfing in insular mammals: the endemic elephants of Mediterranean islands. Homenaje a emiliano aguirre. (eds, Baquedano E.& Rubio S. ). Zona Archeologica, vol. 4 pp. 354–371. Madrid, Spain: Museo Arqueológico Regional. Google Scholar - 6
Foster J. B. . 1964Evolution of mammals on islands. Nature 202, 234–235.doi:10.1038/202234a0 (doi:10.1038/202234a0). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 7
Smith F. A., In preparation. Mammoth v1.0: mammalian mass over time and hierarchical scales. Google Scholar - 8
- 9
Gaston K. J.& Blackburn T. M. . 2000Pattern and process in macroecology.Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science. Crossref, Google Scholar - 10
Brown J. H., Gillooly J. F., Allen A. P., Savage V. M.& West G. B. . 2004Toward a metabolic theory of ecology. Ecology 85, 1771–1789.doi:10.1890/03-9000 (doi:10.1890/03-9000). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 11
Gillooly J., Brown J., West G., Savage V.& Charnov E. . 2001Effects of size and temperature on metabolic rate. Science 293, 2248–2251.doi:10.1126/science.1061967 (doi:10.1126/science.1061967). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 12
Allen A. P., Gillooly J. F.& Brown J. H. . 2005Linking the global carbon cycle to individual metabolism. Funct. Ecol. 19, 202–213.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2005.00952.x (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2005.00952.x). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 13
Clarke A. . 2006Temperature and the metabolic theory of ecology. Funct. Ecol. 20, 405–412.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01109.x (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01109.x). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 14
López-Urrutia Á., San Martin E., Harris R. P.& Irigoien X. . 2006Scaling the metabolic balance of the oceans. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 8739–8744.doi:10.1073/pnas.0601137103 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0601137103). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 15
Hou C., Zuo W., Moses M. E., Woodruff W. H., Brown J. H.& West G. B. . 2008Energy uptake and allocation during ontogeny. Science 322, 736–739.doi:10.1126/science.1162302 (doi:10.1126/science.1162302). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 16
Ernest S. K. M., White E. P.& Brown J. H. . 2009Changes in a tropical forest support metabolic zero-sum dynamics. Ecol. Lett. 12, 507–515.doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01305.x (doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01305.x). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 17
Jablonski D. . 1987Heritability at the species level: analysis of geographic ranges of Cretaceous mollusks. Science 238, 360–363.doi:10.1126/science.238.4825.360 (doi:10.1126/science.238.4825.360). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 18
Davidson A. D., Hamilton M. J., Boyer A. G., Brown J. H.& Ceballos G. . 2009Multiple ecological pathways to extinction in mammals. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 10 702–10 705.doi:10.1073/pnas.0901956106 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0901956106). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 19
Diniz-Filho J. A. F., Carvalho P., Bini L. M.& Torres N. M. . 2005Macroecology, geographic range size-body size relationship and minimum viable population analysis for new world carnivora. Acta Oecol. 27, 25–30.doi:10.1016/j.actao.2004.08.006 (doi:10.1016/j.actao.2004.08.006). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 20
Poulin R., Krasnov B. R., Mouillot D.& Thieltges D. W. . 2011The comparative ecology and biogeography of parasites. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 366, 2379–2390.doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.00048 (doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.00048). Link, ISI, Google Scholar - 21
Smith F. A., 2004Similarity of mammalian body size across the taxonomic hierarchy and across space and time. Am. Nat. 163, 672–691.doi:10.1086/382898 (doi:10.1086/382898). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 22
- 23
Darwin C. . 1859On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.London, UK: John Murray. Google Scholar - 24
Watson H. C. . 1859Cybele Britannica, or British plants and their geographical relations.London, UK: Longman & Company. Google Scholar - 25
- 26
de Liocourt F. . 1898De l'amenagement des sapinières. Bull. Soc. For. Franche-Comté Belfort. 4, 396–409. Google Scholar - 27
Arrhenius O. . 1920Distribution of the species over the area.. Meddelanden Fran K. Vetenskapsakademiens Nobelinstitut 4, 1–6. Google Scholar - 28
- 29
- 30
Hutchinson G. E.& MacArthur R. H. . 1959A theoretical ecological model of size distributions. Am. Nat. 93, 117–125.doi:10.1086/282063 (doi:10.1086/282063). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 31
Fischer A. G. . 1960Latitudinal variation in organic diversity. Evolution 14, 64–81.doi:10.2307/2405923 (doi:10.2307/2405923). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 32
Smith F. A., Lyons S. K., Ernest S. K. M.& Brown J. H. . 2008Macroecology: more than the division of food and space among species on continents. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 32, 115–138.doi:10.1177/0309133308094425 (doi:10.1177/0309133308094425). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 33
Brown J. H.& Maurer B. A. . 1987Evolution of species assemblages: effects of energetic constraints and species dynamics on the diversification of the North American avifauna. Am. Nat. 130, 1–17.doi:10.1086/284694 (doi:10.1086/284694). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 34
Brown J. H.& Maurer B. A. . 1989Macroecology: the division of food and space among species on continents. Science 243, 1145–1150.doi:10.1126/science.243.4895.1145 (doi:10.1126/science.243.4895.1145). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 35
Brown J. H.& Maurer B. A. In press. The beginning of macroecology. Foundations of macroecology (eds, Smith F. A., Gittleman J. L.& Brown J. H. ). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar - 36
Hunt G.& Roy K. . 2006Climate change, body size evolution, and Cope's Rule in deep-sea ostracodes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 1347–1352.doi:10.1073/pnas.0510550103 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0510550103). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 37
Smith F. A.& Betancourt J. L. . 2006Predicting woodrat (Neotoma) responses to anthropogenic warming from studies of the palaeomidden record. J. Biogeogr. 33, 2061–2076.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01631.x (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01631.x). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 38
Kerr J. T., Kharouba H. M.& Currie D. J. . 2007The macroecological contribution to global change solutions. Science 316, 1581–1584.doi:10.1126/science.1133267 (doi:10.1126/science.1133267). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 39
Willis K. J., Kleczkowski A., New M.& Whittaker R. J. . 2007Testing the impact of climate variability on European plant diversity: 320 000 years of water-energy dynamics and its long-term influence on plant taxonomic richness. Ecol. Lett. 10, 673–679.doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01056.x (doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01056.x). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 40
Kuhn I., Bohning-Gaese K., Cramer W.& Klotz S. . 2008Macroecology meets global change research. Global Ecol. Biogeogr. 17, 3–4.doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00377.x (doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00377.x). Crossref, Google Scholar - 41
Lyons S. K., Wagner P. J.& Dziklewicz K. M. . 2010Ecological correlates of range shifts of Late Pleistocene mammals. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 365, 3681–3693.doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0263 (doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0263). Link, ISI, Google Scholar - 42
Gotelli N. J.& Graves G. R. . 1996Null models in ecology.Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Google Scholar - 43
Blackburn T. M.& Gaston K. J. . 1998Some methodological issues in macroecology. Am. Nat. 151, 68–83.doi:10.1086/286103 (doi:10.1086/286103). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 44
Blackburn T. M. . 2004Method in macroecology. Basic Appl. Ecol. 5, 401–412.doi:10.1016/j.baae.2004.08.002 (doi:10.1016/j.baae.2004.08.002). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 45
Jablonski D., Roy K.& Valentine J. W. . 2003Evolutionary macroecology and the fossil record. Macroecology: concepts and consequences (eds, Blackburn T. M.& Gaston K. J. ), pp. 368–390. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science. Google Scholar - 46
Raia P., Meloro C., Loy A.& Barbera C. . 2006Species occupancy and its course in the past: macroecological patterns in extinct communities. Evol. Ecol. Res. 8, 181–194. ISI, Google Scholar - 47
Foote M., Crampton J. S., Beu A. G., Marshall B. A., Cooper R. A., Maxwell P. A.& Matcham I. . 2007Rise and fall of species occupancy in Cenozoic fossil mollusks. Science 318, 1131–1134.doi:10.1126/science.1146303 (doi:10.1126/science.1146303). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 48
Foote M., Crampton J. S., Beu A. G.& Cooper R. A. . 2008On the bidirectional relationship between geographic range and taxonomic duration. Paleobiology 34, 421–433.doi:10.1666/08023.1 (doi:10.1666/08023.1). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 49
McElwain J. C., Popa M. E., Hesselbo S. P., Haworth M.& Surlyk F. . 2007Macroecological responses of terrestrial vegetation to climatic and atmospheric change across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in East Greenland. Paleobiology 33, 547–573.doi:10.1666/06026.1 (doi:10.1666/06026.1). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 50
Payne J. L., 2009Two-phase increase in the maximum size of life over 3.5 billion years reflects biological innovation and environmental opportunity. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 24–27.doi:10.1073/pnas.0806314106 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0806314106). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 51
Roy K., Hunt G., Jablonski D., Krug A. Z.& Valentine J. W. . 2009A macroevolutionary perspective on species range limits. Proc. R. Soc. B 276, 1485–1493.doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1232 (doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1232). Link, ISI, Google Scholar - 52
Lyons S. K.& Wagner P. J. . 2009Using a macroecological approach to the fossil record to help inform conservation biology. Conservation paleobiology: using the past to manage the future (eds, Dietl G. P.& Flessa K. W. ), pp. 141–166. New Haven, CT: Paleontological Society. Google Scholar - 53
Lyons S. K.& Smith F. A. . 2010Using a macroecological approach to study geographic range, abundance and body size in the fossil record. Quantitative methods in analytical paleobiology (eds, Hunt G.& Alroy J. ), pp. 117–141. New Haven, CT: Paleontological Society. Google Scholar - 54
Smith F. A., 2010The evolution of maximum body size of terrestrial mammals. Science 330, 1216–1219.doi:10.1126/science.1194830 (doi:10.1126/science.1194830). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 55
Economos A. C. . 1981The largest land mammal. J. Theoret. Biol. 89, 211–215.doi:10.1016/0022-5193(81)90307-6 (doi:10.1016/0022-5193(81)90307-6). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 56
Hokkanen J. E. I. . 1986The size of the largest land animal. J. Theoret. Biol. 118, 491–499.doi:10.1016/S0022-5193(86)80167-9 (doi:10.1016/S0022-5193(86)80167-9). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 57
Peters R. H. . 1983The ecological implications of body size.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Crossref, Google Scholar - 58
Downhower J. F.& Blumer L. S. . 1988Calculating just how small a whale can be. Nature 335, 675.doi:10.1038/335675b0 (doi:10.1038/335675b0). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 59
- 60
Alexander R. M. . 1998All-time giants: the largest animals and their problems. Palaeontology 41, 1231–1245. ISI, Google Scholar - 61
Burness G. P., Diamond J.& Flannery T. . 2001Dinosaurs, dragons, and dwarfs: the evolution of maximal body size. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 14 518–14 523.doi:10.1073/pnas.251548698 (doi:10.1073/pnas.251548698). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 62
Clauss M., Frey R., Kiefer B., Lechner-Doll M., Loehlein W., Polster C., Rössner G. E.& Streich W. J. . 2003The maximum attainable body size of herbivorous mammals: morphophysiological constraints on foregut, and adaptations of hindgut fermenters. Oecologia 136, 14–27.doi:10.1007/s00442-003-1254-z (doi:10.1007/s00442-003-1254-z). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 63
Smith F. A.& Lyons S. K. . Submitted. Body size across space, time and taxonomy.Chicago, IL:University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar - 64
Calder W. A. . 1984Size, function and life history.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar - 65
Alexander R. M. . 1989Dynamics of dinosaurs and other extinct giants.New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Google Scholar - 66
Dobson G. P. . 2003On being the right size: heart design, mitochondrial efficiency and lifespan potential. Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Phys. 30, 590–597.doi:10.1046/j.1440-1681.2003.03876.x (doi:10.1046/j.1440-1681.2003.03876.x). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 67
Marquet P. A.& Taper M. L. . 1998On size and area: patterns of mammalian body size extremes across landmasses. Evol. Ecol. 12, 127–139.doi:10.1023/A:1006567227154 (doi:10.1023/A:1006567227154). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 68
Falkowski P. G., Katz M. E., Milligan A. J., Fennel K., Cramer B. S., Aubry M. P., Berner R. A., Novacek M. J.& Zapol W. M. . 2005The rise of oxygen over the past 205 million years and the evolution of large placental mammals. Science 309, 2202–2204.doi:10.1126/science.1116047 (doi:10.1126/science.1116047). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 69
West G. B., Brown J. H.& Enquist B. J. . 1997A general model for the origin of allometric scaling laws in biology. Science 276, 122–126.doi:10.1126/science.276.5309.122 (doi:10.1126/science.276.5309.122). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 70
West G. B., Brown J. H.& Enquist B. J. . 1999A general model for the structure and allometry of plant vascular systems. Nature 400, 664–667.doi:10.1038/23251 (doi:10.1038/23251). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 71
Brown J. H.& Nicoletto P. F. . 1991Spatial scaling of species composition: body masses of North American land animals. Am. Nat. 138, 1478–1512.doi:10.1086/285297 (doi:10.1086/285297). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 72
Galilei G. . 1638Dialogues concerning two new sciences. New York, NY: MacMillan (transl. by H. Crew & A. de Salvio, 1914). Google Scholar - 73
Haldane J. B. S. . 1928Possible worlds and other papers.New York, NY: Harper and Brothers. Google Scholar - 74
- 75
Smith F. A., Lyons S. K., Ernest S. K. M., Jones K. E., Kaufman D. M., Dayan T., Marquet P. A., Brown J. H.& Haskell J. P. . 2003Body mass of Late Quaternary mammals. Ecology 84, 3403–3403.doi:10.1890/02-9003 (doi:10.1890/02-9003). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 76
Wilson D. E.& Reeder D. M. . 1993Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference, 2nd edn.Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Google Scholar - 77
Brown J. H., Marquet P. A.& Taper M. L. . 1993Evolution of body-size: consequences of an energetic definition of fitness. Am. Nat. 142, 573–584.doi:10.1086/285558 (doi:10.1086/285558). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 78
Alroy J. . 1998Cope's rule and the dynamics of body mass evolution in North American fossil mammals. Science 280, 731–734.doi:10.1126/science.280.5364.731 (doi:10.1126/science.280.5364.731). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 79
Lyons S. K., Smith F. A.& Brown J. H. . 2004Of mice, mastodons and men: human-mediated extinctions on four continents. Evol. Ecol. Res. 6, 339–358. ISI, Google Scholar - 80
Lyons S. K.& Smith F. A. In press. Macroecological patterns of body size in mammals across time and space. Body size: linking pattern and process across space, time and taxonomic group (eds, Smith F. A.& Lyons S. K. ), Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar - 81
Demment M. W.& Van Soest P. J. . 1985A nutritional explanation for body size patterns of ruminant and nonruminant herbivores. Am. Nat. 125, 641–672.doi:10.1086/284369 (doi:10.1086/284369). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 82
Lomolino M. V., Riddle B. R., Whittaker R. J.& Brown J. H. . 2010Biogeography, 4th edn.Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates. Google Scholar - 83
Lillegraven J. A., Kielan-Jaworowska Z.& Clemens W. A. (eds)1979Mesozoic mammals: the first two-thirds of mammalian history.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Google Scholar - 84
Crompton A. W. . 1980Biology of the earliest mammals. Comparative physiology: primitive mammals (eds, Schmidt-Nielsen K., Bolis L.& Taylor C. R. ), pp. 1–12. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar - 85
Alroy J. . 1999The fossil record of North American mammals: evidence for a Paleocene evolutionary radiation. Syst. Biol. 48, 107–118.doi:10.1080/106351599260472 (doi:10.1080/106351599260472). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 86
Gould S. J. . 1988Trends as changes in variance: a new slant on progress and directionality in evolution. J. Paleontol. 62, 319–329. Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 87
McShea D. W. . 1994Mechanism of large scale evolutionary trends. Evolution 48, 1747–1763.doi:10.2307/2410505 (doi:10.2307/2410505). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 88
Trammer J. . 2005Maximum body size in a radiating clade as a function of time. Evolution 59, 941–994. Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 89
Bergmann C. . 1847Ueber die verhältnisse der wärmeökonomie der thiere zu ihrer grösse. Göttinger Studien 1, 595–708. Google Scholar - 90
Rensch B. . 1938Some problems of geographical variation and species-formation. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. 150, 275–285. Crossref, Google Scholar - 91
Tappan H. . 1974Molecular oxygen and evolution. Molecular oxygen in biology: topics in molecular oxygen research (ed.& Hayaishi O. ), pp. 81–135. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: North-Holland. Google Scholar - 92
Payne J. L., 2011The evolutionary consequences of oxygenic photosynthesis: a body size perspective. Photosynth. Res. 107, 37–57.doi:10.1007/s11120-010-9593-1 (doi:10.1007/s11120-010-9593-1). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 93
Smith A. G., Smith D. G.& Funnell B. M. . 1994Atlas of Mesozoic and Cenozoic coastlines.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar - 94
Zachos J. C., Dickens G. R.& Zeebe R. E. . 2008An Early Cenozoic perspective on greenhouse warming and carbon-cycle dynamics. Nature 451, 279–283.doi:10.1038/nature06588 (doi:10.1038/nature06588). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 95
Mayr E. . 1956Geographical character gradients and climatic adaptation. Evolution 10, 105–108.doi:10.2307/2406103 (doi:10.2307/2406103). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 96
Mayr E. . 1963Animal species and evolution.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Crossref, Google Scholar - 97
Ashton K. G., Tracy M. C.& de Queiroz A. . 2000Is Bergmann's rule valid for mammals?Am. Nat. 156, 390–415.doi:10.1086/303400 (doi:10.1086/303400). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 98
Harding L. E., Smith F. A., Brown J. H., Lyons S. K.& Youberg K. M. In preparation. Patterns of similarity in mammalian distributions across continents. Google Scholar - 99
Lister A. M. . 1989Rapid dwarfing of red deer on Jersey in the last interglacial. Nature 342, 539–542.doi:10.1038/342539a0 (doi:10.1038/342539a0). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 100
Roth V. L. . 1990Insular dwarf elephants: a case study in body mass estimation and ecological inference. Body size in mammalian paleobiology: estimation and biological implications (eds, Damuth J.& MacFadden B. J. ), pp. 151–179. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar - 101
Smith F. A., Betancourt J. L.& Brown J. H. . 1995Evolution of body size in the woodrat over the past 25,000 years of climate change. Science 270, 2012–2014.doi:10.1126/science.270.5244.2012 (doi:10.1126/science.270.5244.2012). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 102
Smith F. A., Browning H.& Shepherd U. L. . 1998The influence of climate change on the body mass of woodrats (Neotoma) in an arid region of New Mexico USA. Ecography 21, 140–148.doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.1998.tb00668.x (doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.1998.tb00668.x). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 103
Thompson J. N. . 1998Rapid evolution as an ecological process. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13, 329–332.doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01378-0 (doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01378-0). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 104
Simberloff D., Dayan T., Jones C.& Ogura G. . 2000Rapid character displacement and release in the small Indian mongoose, Herpestes javanicus. Ecology 81, 2086–2099. Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 105
Carbone C., Mace G. M., Roberts S. C.& Macdonald M. W. . 1999Energetic constraints on the diet of terrestrial carnivores. Nature 402, 286–288.doi:10.1038/46266 (doi:10.1038/46266). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 106
Andersson K.& Werdelin L. . 2003The evolution of cursorial carnivores in the tertiary: implications of elbow-joint morphology. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 270, S163–S165.doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0070 (doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0070). Link, ISI, Google Scholar - 107
Owen-Smith R. N. . 1988Megaherbivores: the influence of very large body size on ecology.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Crossref, Google Scholar - 108
Maurer B. A.& McGill B. J. . 2004Neutral and non-neutral macroecology. Basic Appl. Ecol. 5, 413–422.doi:10.1016/j.baae.2004.08.006 (doi:10.1016/j.baae.2004.08.006). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 109
Rangel T.& Diniz J. A. F. . 2005Neutral community dynamics, the mid-domain effect and spatial patterns in species richness. Ecol. Lett. 8, 783–790.doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00786.x (doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00786.x). Crossref, ISI, Google Scholar - 110
Hu X. S., He F. L.& Hubbell S. P. . 2007Species diversity in local neutral communities. Am. Nat. 170, 844–853.doi:10.1086/522935 (doi:10.1086/522935). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar - 111
Isaac N. J. B., Jones K. E., Gittleman J. L.& Purvis A. . 2005Correlates of species richness in mammals: body size, life history and ecology. Am. Nat. 165, 600–607.doi:10.1086/429148 (doi:10.1086/429148). Crossref, PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar
