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Testing limiting similarity in Quaternary terrestrial gastropods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

John Warren Huntley ,
Yurena Yanes ,
Michał Kowalewski ,
Carolina Castillo ,
Antonio Delgado-Huertas ,
Miguel Ibáñez ,
María R. Alonso ,
José E. Ortiz  and
Trinidad de Torres
John Warren Huntley
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061. E-mail: jhuntley@vt.edu
Yurena Yanes
Affiliation:
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802
Michał Kowalewski
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061. E-mail: jhuntley@vt.edu
Carolina Castillo
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de La Laguna, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n 38206, La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Antonio Delgado-Huertas
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Biogeoquímica de Isótopos Estables, Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC), Prof. Albareda 1, 18008, Granada, Spain
Miguel Ibáñez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de La Laguna, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n 38206, La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
María R. Alonso
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de La Laguna, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n 38206, La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
José E. Ortiz
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Estratigrafía Biomolecular, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Minas de Madrid, C/Ríos Rosas 21, 28003, Madrid, Spain
Trinidad de Torres
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Estratigrafía Biomolecular, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Minas de Madrid, C/Ríos Rosas 21, 28003, Madrid, Spain
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Abstract

The hypothesis of limiting similarity, which postulates that morphologically and/or ecologically similar species will differ enough in shape, size, or other variables to minimize competition, has been controversial among ecologists and paleoecologists. Many studies have reported the occurrence of limiting similarity in modern environments or in time-averaged fossil deposits; however, empirical high-resolution time series demonstrating limiting similarity over longer time scales are lacking. We have integrated radiocarbon-calibrated amino acid dating techniques, stable isotope estimates, and morphometric data to test the hypothesis of limiting similarity in late Quaternary land snails from the Canary Islands over a period of 42,500 years. We tested for both ecological character displacement (two closely related species will differ in size in order to minimize competition in sympatry and these differences will be minimized in allopatry) and communitywide character displacement (overdispersion of body size among competitors in a guild). Multiple proxies of body size consistently show that two endemic congeneric pulmonate gastropod species (Theba geminata and T. arinagae) maintained a difference in size from ~42,500 B.P. through the last occurrence of T. arinagae 14,900 B.P., with a concomitant trend of a decreasing body size. Theba geminata body size did not converge on that of T. arinagae and variation in T. geminata body size did not increase significantly following the extinction of T. arinagae; therefore, ecological character displacement and release did not occur. Community-wide character displacement was found in only one time bin over the last 42,500 years. These results suggest that limiting similarity is a transient ecological phenomenon rather than a long-term evolutionary process. This study not only demonstrates the problems inherent in biological “snapshot” studies and geological studies of time-averaged deposits to test limiting similarity adequately, but it also presents a more adequate research protocol to test the importance of interspecific competition in the history of life.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , Summer 2008 , pp. 378 - 388
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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