🧵Delighted to share that our study on the impact of aridification on the diversification of Australian blindsnakes is now published at @JBiogeography
w/ Scott Keogh + @AlexDSkeels
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14700
Here's a summary in multiple toots...
(1/10) Shifts in diversification rates of animals and plants in "the land Down Under" have long been linked to aridification, but now, for the first time, we have quantified the relationship between diversification rates and aridity! 🏜️
(2/10) We focused on the fabulous Australian blindsnakes, a group that has arrived in Australia prior to the tumultuous Miocene, to understand how changing temperature and increasing aridity influenced their diversification. 📷 Stephen Zozaya
3/10) Using multiple approaches, we estimated ancestral biomes, reconstructed paleoenvironments that is region specific to Australia, fitted models to evaluate the diversification rates of Oz blindsnakes, and compared rates between arid- and mesic-adapted lineages 🌦️☀️
(4/10) We found that ancestral Australian blindsnakes occupied tropical grasslands, but later transitioned into other biomes on the continent, including multiple transitions into the arid biome. #BioGeoBEARS
5/10) Australia-specific paleotemperature and paleoaridity were better at explaining the variation in diversification rates than global paleotemperature. This is also the first paleoaridity estimate for Australia! 🌡️
(6/10) Interestingly, the best-fitting model revealed that as aridity increased, speciation rates of blindsnakes decreased. The early Miocene saw rapid diversification of blindsnakes in mesic habitats. But as Australia became more arid, diversification rates declined. 📉☀️
10/10) Finally, I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the editors at JBI and share these important articles regarding their #WorkStoppage for #BetterPublishing
Putter Tiatragul