Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (1): add | show Print this page

one publication added to basket [290935]
Plant feeding promotes diversification in the Crustacea
Poore, A.G.B.; Ahyong, S.T.; Lowry, J.K.; Sotka, E.E. (2017). Plant feeding promotes diversification in the Crustacea. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114(33): 8829-8834. https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706399114
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The Academy: Washington, D.C.. ISSN 0027-8424; e-ISSN 1091-6490, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keyword
    Diversification
Author keywords
    Herbivory; crustaceans; arthropods

Authors  Top 
  • Poore, A.G.B.
  • Ahyong, S.T., more
  • Lowry, J.K.
  • Sotka, E.E.

Abstract
    About half of the world’s animal species are arthropods associated with plants, and the ability to consume plant material has been proposed to be an important trait associated with the spectacular diversification of terrestrial insects. We review the phylogenetic distribution of plant feeding in the Crustacea, the other major group of arthropods that commonly consume plants, to estimate how often plant feeding has arisen and to test whether this dietary transition is associated with higher species numbers in extant clades. We present evidence that at least 31 lineages of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial crustaceans (including 64 families and 185 genera) have independently overcome the challenges of consuming plant material. These plant-feeding clades are, on average, 21-fold more speciose than their sister taxa, indicating that a shift in diet is associated with increased net rates of diversification. In contrast to herbivorous insects, most crustaceans have very broad diets, and the increased richness of taxa that include plants in their diet likely results from access to a novel resource base rather than host-associated divergence.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors