Mammals have evolved diverse diets to fuel their demanding metabolisms. This study will investigate the role diet played in mammalian diversification by combining data from the fossil record with data on living mammals. Work will focus on three groups with good fossil records and variable diets: Primates, Carnivora (e.g. dogs, cats and bears), and Cetartiodactyla (e.g. deer, cows and whales). A combination of morphological and DNA data will be used to produce a time-calibrated phylogeny of each group that includes fossil and living species. These phylogenetic trees will then be analyzed with dietary data to estimate speciation and extinction rates in mammals with different diets. The results will be compared to traditional paleontological methods to quantify the biases of these different approaches in reconstructing diversification history.
This study of mammalian dietary evolution will elucidate the evolutionary role diet played in the origin of living mammals, including humans, and whether the evolutionary trajectory of omnivory in our ancestors paralleled its origin in other primates. It will also contribute to consilience between paleontological and phylogenetic approaches to macroevolutionary biology, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration. The project will support training of undergraduate and graduate students along with the development of K-16 educational materials.
