Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals

Shan Huang; Alison Eyres; Susanne A. Fritz; Jussi T. Eronen; Juha Saarinen

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_6

Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals

Shan Huang, Alison Eyres, Susanne A. Fritz, Jussi T. Eronen, Juha Saarinen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

Abstract

Body size is an overarching trait of taxa, related to virtually all aspects of their life history and their relationships with the environment. In this chapter, we use the NOW data to summarize body size evolution of terrestrial mammals during the Neogene. We first present a new method for estimating body size of Proboscidea and show consistent trends of increasing sizes through time across Eurasia and Africa with the resulting new dataset. Both continental trends tracked global warming and cooling events and suggested selection of larger sizes driven by the effects of harshening terrestrial environments. We then use a combined dataset of five mammalian orders to show that large herbivorous mammals increased in body size through time in North America but maintained earlier sizes in Europe. This continental difference reflects the more stable Neogene biome distribution in Europe and highlights the importance of biogeographic approaches for understanding body size evolution.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems
Subtitle of host publication	25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals
Editors	Isaac Casanovas-Vilar, Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Christine M. Janis, Juha Saarinen
Publisher	Springer
Pages	79–93
Number of pages	15
Edition	1
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031174919
ISBN (Print)	9783031174902, 9783031174933
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_6
Publication status	Published - 9 Aug 2023

Publication series

Name	Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology
Publisher	Springer
ISSN (Print)	1877-9077
ISSN (Electronic)	1877-9085

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments:
We wish to thank the NOW community for making this work possible. JS thanks several museums for aiding in the data collection for proboscidean body mass and diet estimates by providing access to their collections, including the Natural History Museum of London, UK (NHMUK), National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya (KNM), Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (MNB), and Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart (SMNS), Germany, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN), and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria (NMW). Special thanks go to curators and collection managers Pip Brewer (NHMUK), Job Kibii and Kyalo Manthi (KNM), Oliver Hampe and Thomas Schossleitner (MNB), Reinhard Ziegler (SMNS), Gillaume Billet (MNHN) and Ursula Göhlich (NMW). We wish to acknowledge several funding sources who supported this work: German Research Foundation (DFG, HU 2748/1-1) for SH, Academy of Finland (projects nr. 315691 and 340775) for JS, Leibniz Association (Leibniz competition P52/2017) for SAF, and Kone Foundation and Academy of Finland’s project number 338558 for JTE. We thank the editor Lars van den Hoek Ostende and the reviewers David Polly and Lars van den Hoek Ostende for their constructive comments that helped us improve this work.

Keywords

Africa
Body Mass
Body Size Estimation
Diet
Ecological Diversity
Environmental Change
Paleobiogeography
Proboscidea

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_6

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HuangS2023Environmental
Accepted author manuscript, 397 KB
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Embargo ends: 8/08/25

Cite this

Huang, S., Eyres, A., Fritz, S. A., Eronen, J. T., & Saarinen, J. (2023). Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals. In I. Casanovas-Vilar, L. W. van den Hoek Ostende, C. M. Janis, & J. Saarinen (Eds.), Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals (1 ed., pp. 79–93). (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_6

Huang, Shan ; Eyres, Alison ; Fritz, Susanne A. et al. / Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals. Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals. editor / Isaac Casanovas-Vilar ; Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende ; Christine M. Janis ; Juha Saarinen. 1. ed. Springer, 2023. pp. 79–93 (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology).

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abstract = "Body size is an overarching trait of taxa, related to virtually all aspects of their life history and their relationships with the environment. In this chapter, we use the NOW data to summarize body size evolution of terrestrial mammals during the Neogene. We first present a new method for estimating body size of Proboscidea and show consistent trends of increasing sizes through time across Eurasia and Africa with the resulting new dataset. Both continental trends tracked global warming and cooling events and suggested selection of larger sizes driven by the effects of harshening terrestrial environments. We then use a combined dataset of five mammalian orders to show that large herbivorous mammals increased in body size through time in North America but maintained earlier sizes in Europe. This continental difference reflects the more stable Neogene biome distribution in Europe and highlights the importance of biogeographic approaches for understanding body size evolution.",

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note = "Acknowledgments: We wish to thank the NOW community for making this work possible. JS thanks several museums for aiding in the data collection for proboscidean body mass and diet estimates by providing access to their collections, including the Natural History Museum of London, UK (NHMUK), National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya (KNM), Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde, Berlin (MNB), and Staatliches Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde, Stuttgart (SMNS), Germany, Mus{\'e}um National d{\textquoteright}Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN), and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria (NMW). Special thanks go to curators and collection managers Pip Brewer (NHMUK), Job Kibii and Kyalo Manthi (KNM), Oliver Hampe and Thomas Schossleitner (MNB), Reinhard Ziegler (SMNS), Gillaume Billet (MNHN) and Ursula G{\"o}hlich (NMW). We wish to acknowledge several funding sources who supported this work: German Research Foundation (DFG, HU 2748/1-1) for SH, Academy of Finland (projects nr. 315691 and 340775) for JS, Leibniz Association (Leibniz competition P52/2017) for SAF, and Kone Foundation and Academy of Finland{\textquoteright}s project number 338558 for JTE. We thank the editor Lars van den Hoek Ostende and the reviewers David Polly and Lars van den Hoek Ostende for their constructive comments that helped us improve this work.",

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Huang, S, Eyres, A, Fritz, SA, Eronen, JT & Saarinen, J 2023, Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals. in I Casanovas-Vilar, LW van den Hoek Ostende, CM Janis & J Saarinen (eds), Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals. 1 edn, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer, pp. 79–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_6

Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals. / Huang, Shan; Eyres, Alison; Fritz, Susanne A. et al.
Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals. ed. / Isaac Casanovas-Vilar; Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende; Christine M. Janis; Juha Saarinen. 1. ed. Springer, 2023. p. 79–93 (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

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N1 - Acknowledgments: We wish to thank the NOW community for making this work possible. JS thanks several museums for aiding in the data collection for proboscidean body mass and diet estimates by providing access to their collections, including the Natural History Museum of London, UK (NHMUK), National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya (KNM), Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (MNB), and Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart (SMNS), Germany, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN), and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria (NMW). Special thanks go to curators and collection managers Pip Brewer (NHMUK), Job Kibii and Kyalo Manthi (KNM), Oliver Hampe and Thomas Schossleitner (MNB), Reinhard Ziegler (SMNS), Gillaume Billet (MNHN) and Ursula Göhlich (NMW). We wish to acknowledge several funding sources who supported this work: German Research Foundation (DFG, HU 2748/1-1) for SH, Academy of Finland (projects nr. 315691 and 340775) for JS, Leibniz Association (Leibniz competition P52/2017) for SAF, and Kone Foundation and Academy of Finland’s project number 338558 for JTE. We thank the editor Lars van den Hoek Ostende and the reviewers David Polly and Lars van den Hoek Ostende for their constructive comments that helped us improve this work.

PY - 2023/8/9

Y1 - 2023/8/9

N2 - Body size is an overarching trait of taxa, related to virtually all aspects of their life history and their relationships with the environment. In this chapter, we use the NOW data to summarize body size evolution of terrestrial mammals during the Neogene. We first present a new method for estimating body size of Proboscidea and show consistent trends of increasing sizes through time across Eurasia and Africa with the resulting new dataset. Both continental trends tracked global warming and cooling events and suggested selection of larger sizes driven by the effects of harshening terrestrial environments. We then use a combined dataset of five mammalian orders to show that large herbivorous mammals increased in body size through time in North America but maintained earlier sizes in Europe. This continental difference reflects the more stable Neogene biome distribution in Europe and highlights the importance of biogeographic approaches for understanding body size evolution.

AB - Body size is an overarching trait of taxa, related to virtually all aspects of their life history and their relationships with the environment. In this chapter, we use the NOW data to summarize body size evolution of terrestrial mammals during the Neogene. We first present a new method for estimating body size of Proboscidea and show consistent trends of increasing sizes through time across Eurasia and Africa with the resulting new dataset. Both continental trends tracked global warming and cooling events and suggested selection of larger sizes driven by the effects of harshening terrestrial environments. We then use a combined dataset of five mammalian orders to show that large herbivorous mammals increased in body size through time in North America but maintained earlier sizes in Europe. This continental difference reflects the more stable Neogene biome distribution in Europe and highlights the importance of biogeographic approaches for understanding body size evolution.

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M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)

SN - 9783031174902

SN - 9783031174933

T3 - Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology

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Huang S, Eyres A, Fritz SA, Eronen JT, Saarinen J. Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals. In Casanovas-Vilar I, van den Hoek Ostende LW, Janis CM, Saarinen J, editors, Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals. 1 ed. Springer. 2023. p. 79–93. (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology). Epub 2023 Aug 8. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_6

Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals

Abstract

Publication series

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Cite this