Biogeography and Evolution

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Biogeography and Evolution

• Leith Nye and Rachel Schmidt
• February 28, 2006

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Biogeography

• the study of what organisms live where on earth
  and why
• (from Humphries and Parenti, 1999)

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A naturalist in Europe
Carolus Linnaeus (17071778)
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From the Ark to Ararat

• Bible (AD)
• Young Earth
• Single creation of perfect species
• Origin Mt. Ararat, Turkey where Ark landed
• Linnaeus (1735)
• Notes variation in form
• Mountainous island center of origin theory

Possible remains of Noahs Ark, Mt. Ararat
Linnaeuss Mountainous Island Post Flood
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Buffon the Visionary

• Georges Buffon (1761)
• Noted faunistic differences and similarities
  between regions of similar climate (Buffons
  Law)
• Fossils, extinction, changes in species, climate
  and geography

Georges de Buffon ca. 1760
Map of Artic from Histoire Naturelle
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Continuing Exploration

• Humboldt (1805)
• Plant zonation, associations and biomes
• Candolle (1820)
• Coined term endemic
• Defined ca. 20 regions of endemism
• Disjunctions bipolar and Africa-Austraila

Alexander von Humboldt
Augustin Pyrame de Candolle
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What are patterns of distribution of species seen
across the globe?

• Geographical regions have characteristic biotas.
• Similar/closely related taxa tend to be closer
  together than more distantly related groups.
• Similar environments are found in different areas
  BUT the same species may not be found in all
  places where they could be!
• Not closely related species in similar
  environments may appear similar due to
  convergence.

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How else might we explain this distribution
without biogeography principles?? What
distributions would we expect to see WITHOUT
macroevolution??
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Worlds Biomes
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What broad distribution patterns do we actually
see?
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Distinct Faunas across Similar Environments
Wallaces Faunal Regions
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Distinct Floras across Similar Environments
Goods Floristic Regions
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• In considering the distribution of organic
  beings over the face of the globe, the first
  great fact that strikes us is, that neither the
  similarity nor the dissimilarity of the
  inhabitants of various regions can be wholly
  accounted for by climatal and other physical
  conditions.
• Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

A reasonable nonevolutionary prediction is that
species should occur wherever their habitat is.
However, macroevolution predicts just the
opposite there should be many locations where a
given species would thrive yet is not found
there, due to geographical barriers. Futuyma, D.
(1998) Evolutionary Biology. Third edition.
Sunderland, Mass., Sinauer Associates
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The Origin of Species

• Evidence Geographical Distribution I and II
• Regions with identical climate have different
  floras and faunas (Buffons Law).
• Geographic barriers closely associated with
  breaks between taxonomic groups.
• Within a region, organisms are often closely
  related even across environmental gradients and
  lower taxonomic groups often show narrower
  distributions than higher.

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1. Similar Climate, Different Taxa
Cactaceae in North American deserts
Euphorbiaceae in southern African deserts
Courtesy of K.J. Sytsma
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Geographic Barriers and Distinct Biota
More similar marine biota
Very different marine biota
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3. Closely Related Taxa in Close Proximity
Wallaces Line
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Disjunctions A Bur in Darwins Saddle

• Darwin goes to great pains to show how disjunct
  patterns of species distributions can be
  explained through climate changes, geological
  changes and dispersal.
• Examples
• Same alpine species on mountains between and
  across continents result of cycles of glaciation
  and migration.
• Similarity of freshwater fish species across
  continents due to flooding, twisters, birds, salt
  water tolerance etc.
• Islands biota can be explained by dispersal and
  previous existence of now submerged island
  chains.

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Courtesy of K.J. Sytsma
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Islands- Hawaii vs. Madagascar

• He who admits the doctrine of creation of each
  separate species, will have to admit that a
  sufficient number of the best adapted plants and
  animals were not created for oceanic islands, for
  man has unintentionally stocked them far more
  fully and perfectly than did nature.
• -Darwin, The Origin of Species

Courtesy of K.J. Sytsma
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Vicariance Theory Lacking Mechanism

• Other authors have thus hypothetically bridged
  over every ocean and united almost every island
  with some mainland. If indeed the arguments used
  by Forbes are to be trusted, it must be admitted
  that scarcely a single island exists which has
  not recently been united to some continent. This
  view cuts the Gordian knot of the dispersal of
  the same species to the most distant points , and
  removes many a difficulty but to the best of my
  judgement we are not authorized in admitting such
  enormous geographical changes within the period
  of existing species.
• Darwin, 1859

Courtesy of K.J. Sytsma
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Plate TectonicsEnter Alfred Wegener
Wegener relied heavily on biogeographical
evidence for defending his controversial
continental drift theory
Glossopteris Permian fern
Mesosaurus Freshwater Permian Reptile
Cynognathus Triassic land reptile
Lystrosaurus Triassic land reptile
Courtesy of K.J. Sytsma
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Courtesy of K.J. Sytsma
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Three major patterns of dispersal/vicariance
modality can be identified 1) Cretaceous
dispersal to Madagascar with ensuing
distributions from India (and/or South Africa)
across Antarctica to South America and
Australo-E. Malesia during the time of the
initial radiation of the angiosperms 2)
Eocene-Oligocene (and continuing to the present)
dispersal to Madagascar (and Africa) from
Laurasia and W. Malesia via India (pre- and
post-collision with Asia) along "Lemurian
Stepping-stones" in the western Indian Ocean and
3) continuous (and recent) long distance
dispersal (LDD) to Madagascar as a function of
the prevailing easterly winds and Indian Ocean
currents. -G.E. Schatz, Malagasy/Indo-australomale
sian Phytogeographic Connections
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Species and Areas History of Ideas
Courtesy of K.J. Sytsma
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What is the ID/creationist response to
biogeography?
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• We see in these facts some deep organic bond,
  throughout space and time, over the same areas of
  land and water, independently of physical
  conditions. The naturalist must be dull who is
  not led to inquire what that bond is . . . The
  bond is simple inheritance.
• Darwin, The Origin of Species

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References Cox, B.C. and P.D. Moore. 2005.
Biogeography An Ecological and Evolutionary
Approach. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA,
USA. Darwin, C. 1859. The Origin of Species by
Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation
of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. John
Murray, London, UK. Humphries, C.J. and L.R.
Parenti. 1999. Cladistic Biogeography
Interpreting Patterns of Plant and Animal
Distributions. Oxford University Press, Oxford,
UK. Johnson, W.E. et al. 2006. The late Miocene
radiation of modern Felidae A genetic
assessment. Science 31173-77. Knox, E.B. and
J.D. Palmer. 1995. Chloroplast DNA variation and
the recent radiation of the giant senecios
(Asteraceae) on tall mountains of eastern
Africa. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 92 10349-1-353.
Lomolino, M.V., D.F. Sax and J.H. Brown,
editors. 2004. Foundations in Biogeography. The
Unversity of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA.
Wegener, A. 1915. Die Enstehung der Kontinente
und Ozeane. Sammlung Vieweg und Sohn,
Braunschweig. Whitfield,J. 2005. Biogeography
Is everything everywhere? Science
310960-961. International Institute for
Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences, Gondwana
Animation http//www.kartografie.nl/gondwana/ind
ex.asp