Project Details
Projekt
Modelling life history strategies and their evolution
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Eva Maria Griebeler
Subject Area
Palaeontology
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 508778113
A life history strategy is the specific association of life history traits such as the clutch/litter size, age at sexual maturation or length of life seen in a species. There are substantial clade-specific effects in life history traits and strategies of species across modern vertebrates, and these come along with differences in their life styles (e.g., aquatic, semiaquatic or terrestrial). Especially, within extant lissamphibians life history traits and strategies differ between species of different life styles. Thus, we infer life history strategies and life styles of extinct temnospondyl specimen by using modern (aquatic) bony fishes, (aquatic, semiaquatic, terrestrial) lissamphibians, and amniotes (terrestrial non-avian reptiles) as models. In this project, (1) we will document life history traits and strategies of these three vertebrate clades as well as information on species’ life styles and modes of locomotion and feeding. (2) We will further establish differences in relations between life history traits and in strategies between clades as well as due to life styles for lissamphibians. In lissamphibians, we will further elaborate whether modes of locomotion and of diet of larvae and adults are indicative to life style because the latter are documented in the fossil record for temnospondyls. (3) Finally, we will recognize life history traits in temnospondyls, reconstruct their life history strategies, and infer their life styles. To this end, (a) we will first establish a large database on life history traits, life styles, and modes of locomotion and feeding of species for the three clades. (b) Then we will explore differences in relations between traits and in strategies between clades. Similar analysis will be conducted with extant lissamphibians to infer potential differences in relations between traits and strategies for species of different life styles and modes of locomotion and feeding. All statistical modelling on modern vertebrates will apply phylogeny-informed methods. (c) Life history traits of temnospondyl specimens will be inferred from modelling histological growth series and applying relations between traits from the three modern clades. Likewise, the life styles, modes of locomotion and feeding of temnospondyl specimens will be calculated from trait relations and differences in life history strategies seen in modern lissamphibians. Finally, as a first step towards a general understanding of the transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial life in early tetrapods, we will model the evolution of the life history traits as well as life style and modes of locomotion and diet with modern lissamphibians. Therefore, we compare the modelled ancestral life history trait values, life styles and modes of locomotion and feeding to that inferred for temnospondyls.
DFG Programme
Research Units
