"New insights on animal size evolution using an eco-evolutionary model"Roy, ShovonlalThe empirical evidence on the evolution of animal size is remarkably conflicting. The apparent contradictions questioned the applicability of a long-standing concept in evolutionary ecology known as Cope’s rule, which is the tendency of animals in evolving lineages to increase in body size over time. This presentation will deal with the outcome a process-based community-evolution model that was employed to investigate the eco-evolutionary emergence of animal body-size. It will demonstrate how three characteristically different macroevolutionary patterns in relation to animal body size may emerge due to varying ecological conditions. The results will be discussed in the context of understanding the different positions of the debate around the validity of Cope’s rule. The presentation will further discuss several novel hypotheses on the prevalence of Cope’s rule and species extinction based on the eco-evolutionary model, and will propose how these hypotheses may potentially be tested. |
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