The nature and origin of taxonomic diversity gradients in marine bivalves

Bivalves have been fundamental in developing the understanding of large-scale biodiversity patterns in the marine realm. A new study based on 29 regional bivalve faunas indicates that both latitudinal and longitudinal gradients are not so regular in form as was once imagined. The northern hemisphere latitudinal gradient has a marked step, or inflection, at 20–30°N, and in the southern hemisphere Australia forms a distinct diversity hotspot. A longitudinal gradient runs between a large tropical high diversity focus in the southern China-Indonesia-Australia region and a somewhat smaller one in the Panamic-Caribbean region. It is unlikely that the marked asymmetry in both latitudinal and longitudinal gradients can be explained entirely by either the geometric patterns of species ranges in relation to geographical boundaries (the mid-domain effect) or the operation of contemporary, or equilibrium, factors. The role of history must be considered too, and in some cases this could involve a timescale of at least 60 Ma. For example, Australia has moved progressively northwards throughout the Cenozoic era and this seems to have led to the development of a unique assemblage of both tropical and temperate taxa around the continent. When Australia eventually collided with southeast Asia, some 15 Ma ago, three previously distinct tropical marine faunas were brought into close juxtaposition. However, something else seems to have been involved in order to generate a marked pantropical Neogene diversification event in bivalves and other marine invertebrate taxa. It is striking how this event coincided with a prolonged interval of global cooling and the suggestion has been made that glacioeustatic cycles may have promoted the formation of a tropical species diversity pump. In concert with regular and profound sea-level changes, new taxa were created in marginal tropical regions and then concentrated in certain core regions. These same glacioeustatic cycles may also have served to accentuate the latitudinal limits of many tropical taxa. As the knowledge of large-scale taxonomic diversity gradients in the marine realm has increased, so too has the realization that they are at least the partial products of major historical events.

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