Author
Omar Torres-Carvajal
Other affiliations: University of Kansas, National Museum of Natural History
Bio: Omar Torres-Carvajal is an academic researcher from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. The author has contributed to research in topics: Squamata & Stenocercus. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 83 publications receiving 2143 citations. Previous affiliations of Omar Torres-Carvajal include University of Kansas & National Museum of Natural History.
Topics: Squamata, Stenocercus, Gymnophthalmidae, Iguania, Monophyly
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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University of British Columbia1, University of Idaho2, Harvard University3, University of California, Santa Barbara4, University of California, Berkeley5, University of Georgia6, Humboldt State University7, University of Minnesota8, Dartmouth College9, Clarkson University10, Yale University11, Imperial College London12, University of Missouri–St. Louis13, University of Bern14, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology15, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center16, Oregon State University17, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador18, Simon Fraser University19
TL;DR: It is suggested that the classical model of adaptive radiation, where morphological evolution is initially rapid and slows through time, may be rare in comparative data.
Abstract: George Gaylord Simpson famously postulated that much of life's diversity originated as adaptive radiations-more or less simultaneous divergences of numerous lines from a single ancestral adaptive type. However, identifying adaptive radiations has proven difficult due to a lack of broad-scale comparative datasets. Here, we use phylogenetic comparative data on body size and shape in a diversity of animal clades to test a key model of adaptive radiation, in which initially rapid morphological evolution is followed by relative stasis. We compared the fit of this model to both single selective peak and random walk models. We found little support for the early-burst model of adaptive radiation, whereas both other models, particularly that of selective peaks, were commonly supported. In addition, we found that the net rate of morphological evolution varied inversely with clade age. The youngest clades appear to evolve most rapidly because long-term change typically does not attain the amount of divergence predicted from rates measured over short time scales. Across our entire analysis, the dominant pattern was one of constraints shaping evolution continually through time rather than rapid evolution followed by stasis. We suggest that the classical model of adaptive radiation, where morphological evolution is initially rapid and slows through time, may be rare in comparative data.
744 citations
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University of Oxford1, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev2, Tel Aviv University3, Bishop Museum4, Villanova University5, Imperial College London6, Zoological Society of London7, University of Valle8, University College London9, University of Brasília10, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology11, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak12, University of Central Florida13, La Sierra University14, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi15, University of Michigan16, University of São Paulo17, Royal Museum for Central Africa18, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences19, University of Lincoln20, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador21, Institut de recherche pour le développement22, Virginia Commonwealth University23, Chinese Academy of Sciences24, American Museum of Natural History25
TL;DR: It is shown that additional conservation actions are needed to effectively protect reptiles, particularly lizards and turtles, and that adding reptile knowledge to a global complementarity conservation priority scheme identifies many locations that consequently become important.
Abstract: The distributions of amphibians, birds and mammals have underpinned global and local conservation priorities, and have been fundamental to our understanding of the determinants of global biodiversity. In contrast, the global distributions of reptiles, representing a third of terrestrial vertebrate diversity, have been unavailable. This prevented the incorporation of reptiles into conservation planning and biased our understanding of the underlying processes governing global vertebrate biodiversity. Here, we present and analyse the global distribution of 10,064 reptile species (99% of extant terrestrial species). We show that richness patterns of the other three tetrapod classes are good spatial surrogates for species richness of all reptiles combined and of snakes, but characterize diversity patterns of lizards and turtles poorly. Hotspots of total and endemic lizard richness overlap very little with those of other taxa. Moreover, existing protected areas, sites of biodiversity significance and global conservation schemes represent birds and mammals better than reptiles. We show that additional conservation actions are needed to effectively protect reptiles, particularly lizards and turtles. Adding reptile knowledge to a global complementarity conservation priority scheme identifies many locations that consequently become important. Notably, investing resources in some of the world’s arid, grassland and savannah habitats might be necessary to represent all terrestrial vertebrates efficiently.
354 citations
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Tel Aviv University1, Villanova University2, University of Brasília3, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak4, Central Connecticut State University5, University of Valle6, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens7, University of Lincoln8, Imperial College London9, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador10, Virginia Commonwealth University11, University of Antwerp12
TL;DR: A large (861 species) global dataset of lizard body temperatures was used, and the mean annual temperatures across their geographic ranges were examined to examine the relationships between body andmean annual temperatures.
Abstract: Aim Temperature influences most components of animal ecology and life history ‐ but what kind of temperature? Physiologists usually examine the influence of body temperatures, while biogeographers and macroecologists tend to focus on environmental temperatures. We aim to examine the relationship between these two measures, to determine the factors that affect lizard body temperatures and to test the effect of both temperature measures on lizard life history. Location World-wide. Methods We used a large (861 species) global dataset of lizard body temperatures,and the mean annual temperatures across their geographic ranges to examine the relationships between body and mean annual temperatures.We then examined factors influencing body temperatures, and tested for the influence of both on ecological and life-history traits while accounting for the influence of shared ancestry. Results Body temperatures and mean annual temperatures are uncorrelated. However, accounting for activity time (nocturnal species have low body temperatures), use of space (fossorial and semi-aquatic species are ‘colder’), insularity (mainland species are ‘hotter’) and phylogeny, the two temperatures are positively correlated. High body temperatures are only associated with larger hatchlings and increased rates of biomass production. Annual temperatures are positively correlated with clutch frequency and annual longevity, and negatively correlated with clutch size, age at first reproduction and longevity.
127 citations
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TL;DR: A phylogenetic analysis of all 379 extant species of Anolis, with new phylogenetic data for 139 species including new DNA data for 101 species is presented, using the resulting estimates as a basis for defining anole clade names under the principles of phylogenetic nomenclature and to examine the biogeographic history of anoles.
Abstract: Anolis lizards (anoles) are textbook study organisms in evolution and ecology. Although several topics in evolutionary biology have been elucidated by the study of anoles, progress in some areas has been hampered by limited phylogenetic information on this group. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of all 379 extant species of Anolis, with new phylogenetic data for 139 species including new DNA data for 101 species. We use the resulting estimates as a basis for defining anole clade names under the principles of phylogenetic nomenclature and to examine the biogeographic history of anoles. Our new taxonomic treatment achieves the supposed advantages of recent subdivisions of anoles that employed ranked Linnaean-based nomenclature while avoiding the pitfalls of those approaches regarding artificial constraints imposed by ranks. Our biogeographic analyses demonstrate complexity in the dispersal history of anoles, including multiple crossings of the Isthmus of Panama, two invasions of the Caribbean, single invasions to Jamaica and Cuba, and a single evolutionary dispersal from the Caribbean to the mainland that resulted in substantial anole diversity. Our comprehensive phylogenetic estimate of anoles should prove useful for rigorous testing of many comparative evolutionary hypotheses. [Anoles; biogeography; lizards; Neotropics; phylogeny; taxonomy].
119 citations
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TL;DR: It is postulate that low-quality nutrition reduces growth rates, promotes a relative decline in reproductive rates and thus prolongs life, and points to a continuum of slow-to-fast life-history strategies.
Abstract: Aim Longevity is an important life-history trait, directly linked to the core attributes of fitness (reproduction and survival), yet large-scale comparative studies quantifying its implications for the ecology and life history of ectotherms are scarce. We tested the allometry of longevity in squamates and the tuatara, and determined how longevity is related to key environmental characteristics and lifehistory traits. Predictions based on life-history theory are expected to hold true for ectotherms, similarly to mammals and birds. Location World-wide. Methods We assembled from the literature a dataset of the maximum longevities of more than a thousand squamate species, representing c. 10% of their known species diversity, their phylogenetic relationships and multiple life-history and ecological variables. Correcting for phylogeny, we modelled the link between squamate longevity and both key life-history traits, such as body mass and age at first reproduction, and important environmental factors, such as latitude and primary productivity within species distributional ranges. Results Large-bodied species live for longer than small ones, but body size explains far less of the variance in longevity than it does in mammals and birds. Accounting for body size, squamate brood frequency is negatively correlated with longevity, while age at first reproduction is positively correlated with longevity. This points to a continuum of slow-to-fast life-history strategies. Squamates in high latitudes and cold regions live for longer, probably because a shorter season of activity translates to slower development, older age at first reproduction and hence to increased longevity. Individuals live longer in captivity than in the wild. Herbivorous and omnivorous squamates live for longer than carnivorous ones. We postulate that low-quality nutrition reduces growth rates, promotes a relative decline in reproductive rates and thus prolongs life.
88 citations
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TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
14,171 citations
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TL;DR: It is suggested that the natural selection against large insertion/deletion is so weak that a large amount of variation is maintained in a population.
11,521 citations
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01 Jan 1944
TL;DR: The only previously known species of Myrsidea from bulbuls, M. warwicki ex Ixos philippinus, is redescribed and sixteen new species are described; they and their type hosts are described.
Abstract: We redescribe the only previously known species of Myrsidea from bulbuls, M. pycnonoti Eichler. Sixteen new species are described; they and their type hosts are: M. phillipsi ex Pycnonotus goiavier goiavier (Scopoli), M. gieferi ex P. goiavier suluensis Mearns, M. kulpai ex P. flavescens Blyth, M. finlaysoni ex P. finlaysoni Strickland, M. kathleenae ex P. cafer (L.), M. warwicki ex Ixos philippinus (J. R. Forster), M. mcclurei ex Microscelis amaurotis (Temminck), M. zeylanici ex P. zeylanicus (Gmelin), M. plumosi ex P. plumosus Blyth, M. eutiloti ex P. eutilotus (Jardine and Selby), M. adamsae ex P. urostictus (Salvadori), M. ochracei ex Criniger ochraceus F. Moore, M. borbonici ex Hypsipetes borbonicus (J. R. Forster), M. johnsoni ex P. atriceps (Temminck), M. palmai ex C. ochraceus, and M. claytoni ex P. eutilotus. A key is provided for the identification of these 17 species.
1,756 citations
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TL;DR: The overall biomass composition of the biosphere is assembled, establishing a census of the ≈550 gigatons of carbon (Gt C) of biomass distributed among all of the kingdoms of life and shows that terrestrial biomass is about two orders of magnitude higher than marine biomass and estimate a total of ≈6 Gt C of marine biota, doubling the previous estimated quantity.
Abstract: A census of the biomass on Earth is key for understanding the structure and dynamics of the biosphere. However, a global, quantitative view of how the biomass of different taxa compare with one another is still lacking. Here, we assemble the overall biomass composition of the biosphere, establishing a census of the ≈550 gigatons of carbon (Gt C) of biomass distributed among all of the kingdoms of life. We find that the kingdoms of life concentrate at different locations on the planet; plants (≈450 Gt C, the dominant kingdom) are primarily terrestrial, whereas animals (≈2 Gt C) are mainly marine, and bacteria (≈70 Gt C) and archaea (≈7 Gt C) are predominantly located in deep subsurface environments. We show that terrestrial biomass is about two orders of magnitude higher than marine biomass and estimate a total of ≈6 Gt C of marine biota, doubling the previous estimated quantity. Our analysis reveals that the global marine biomass pyramid contains more consumers than producers, thus increasing the scope of previous observations on inverse food pyramids. Finally, we highlight that the mass of humans is an order of magnitude higher than that of all wild mammals combined and report the historical impact of humanity on the global biomass of prominent taxa, including mammals, fish, and plants.
1,714 citations