Intrinsic and environmental controls of evolutionary rates in Triassic to Palaeogene marine bivalves

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Martin Aberhan
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2011 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 185921904

Analysing the complex interplay of processes controlling biodiversity is fundamental for understanding how diversity is maintained, depleted, or increased, and for assessing the evolutionary response of organisms to global change. Knowing the factors that control evolutionary rates (i.e. rates of origination and of extinction), and thus diversity, is both of great scientific interest and of relevance to society. I propose to study the diversity dynamics of marine bivalves, which can serve as a model group due to their great ecological variety and rich fossil record. By utilising the Paleobiology Database, we calculate taxon-specific evolutionary rates for monophyletic bivalve clades. Furthermore, we will investigate rates for bivalve subgroups that share certain biological traits (geographic range, abundance, niche breadth, body size, life habit, trophic group, mobility, shell mineralogy), and environmental preferences (e.g. for tropical versus non-tropical climatic zones, carbonate versus siliciclastic substrates, reefs versus level-bottom communities etc.). By doing so we expect new insights into the relative role of various intrinsic biological features and extrinsic, biotic and abiotic conditions of the environment in shaping the diversification of a major component of marine benthic ecosystems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants