Arms race of temporal partitioning between carnivorous and herbivorous mammals

43Citations
Citations of this article
62Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Reciprocal coevolutionary changes in predation and anti-predator behaviours have long been hypothesized, but evolutionary-scale evidence is rare. Here, we reconstructed the evolutionary-scale changes in the diel activity patterns of a predator-prey system (carnivorous and herbivorous mammals) based on a molecular phyloecological approach, providing evidence of long-Term antagonistic coevolutionary changes in their diel activities. Our molecular reconstruction of diel activity patterns, which is supported by morphological evidence, consistently showed that carnivorous mammals were subjected to a shift from diurnality to nocturnality, while herbivorous mammals experienced a shift from nocturnality to diurnality during their evolutionary histories. A shift in the diel activity of the herbivores as a result of carnivore avoidance is hypothesized based on molecular, morphological and behavioural evidence, and our results suggest an evolutionary-scale arms race of diel activity shifts between carnivorous and herbivorous mammals.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Wu, Y., Wang, H., Wang, H., & Feng, J. (2018). Arms race of temporal partitioning between carnivorous and herbivorous mammals. Scientific Reports, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20098-6

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free