Oceanic dispersal

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The colonization pathways of Theridion grallator through the eastern Hawaii islands Theridion grallator colonization pattern (Hawaiian volcano populations).png
The colonization pathways of Theridion grallator through the eastern Hawaii islands

Oceanic dispersal is a type of biological dispersal that occurs when terrestrial organisms transfer from one land mass to another by way of a sea crossing. Island hopping is the crossing of an ocean by a series of shorter journeys between islands, as opposed to a single journey directly to the destination. Often this occurs via large rafts of floating vegetation such as are sometimes seen floating down major rivers in the tropics and washing out to sea, occasionally with animals trapped on them. [1] Dispersal via such a raft is sometimes referred to as a rafting event. [2] Colonization of land masses by plants can also occur via long-distance oceanic dispersal of floating seeds. [3]

Contents

History

Rafting has played an important role in the colonization of isolated land masses by mammals. Prominent examples include Madagascar, which has been isolated for ~120 million years (Ma), and South America, which was isolated for much of the Cenozoic. Both land masses, for example, appear to have received their primates by this mechanism. According to genetic evidence, the common ancestor of the lemurs of Madagascar appears to have crossed the Mozambique Channel by rafting between 50 and 60 Ma ago. [4] [5] [6] Likewise, the New World monkeys are thought to have originated in Africa and rafted to South America by the Oligocene, when the continents were much closer than they are today. [5] Madagascar also appears to have received its tenrecs (25–42 Ma ago), nesomyid rodents (20–24 Ma ago) and euplerid carnivorans (19–26 Ma ago) by this route [6] and South America its caviomorph rodents (over 30 Ma ago). [7] [8] Simian primates (ancestral to monkeys) and hystricognath rodents (ancestral to caviomorphs) are believed to have previously rafted from Asia to Africa about 40 Ma ago. [9]

Among reptiles, several iguanid species in the South Pacific have been hypothesized to be descended from iguanas that rafted 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) from Central or South America [10] (an alternative theory involves dispersal of a putative now-extinct iguana lineage from Australia or Asia [11] ). Similarly, a number of clades of American geckos seem to have rafted over from Africa during both the Paleogene and Neogene. [12] Skinks of the related genera Mabuya and Trachylepis also apparently both floated across the Atlantic from Africa to South America and Fernando de Noronha, respectively, during the last 9 Ma. [13] Skinks from the same group have also rafted from Africa to Cape Verde, Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoros and Socotra. [13] (Among lizards, skinks and geckos seem especially capable of surviving long transoceanic journeys. [13] ) Surprisingly, even burrowing amphisbaenians [14] and blind snakes [15] appear to have rafted from Africa to South America.

An example of a bird that is thought to have reached its present location by rafting is the weak-flying South American hoatzin, whose ancestors apparently floated over from Africa. [16]

Colonization of groups of islands can occur by an iterative rafting process sometimes called island hopping. Such a process appears to have played a role, for example, in the colonization of the Caribbean by mammals of South American origin (i.e., caviomorphs, monkeys and sloths). [17]

A remarkable example of iterative rafting has been proposed for spiders of the genus Amaurobioides . [18] [19] Members of this genus inhabit coastal sites and build silken cells which they seal at high tide; however, they do not balloon. DNA sequence analysis suggests that ancestors of the genus dispersed from southern South America to South Africa about 10 Ma ago, where the most basal clade is found; subsequent rafting events then took the genus eastward with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to Australia, then to New Zealand and finally to Chile by about 2 Ma ago. [19] Another example among spiders is the species Moggridgea rainbowi , the only Australian member of a genus otherwise endemic to Africa, with a divergence date of 2 to 16 Ma ago. [20]

However, oceanic dispersal of terrestrial species may not always take the form of rafting; in some cases, swimming or simply floating may suffice. Tortoises of the genus Chelonoidis arrived in South America from Africa in the Oligocene; [21] they were probably aided by their ability to float with their heads up, and to survive up to six months without food or fresh water. [21] South American tortoises then went on to colonize the West Indies and Galápagos Islands.

The dispersal of semiaquatic species is likely to occur similarly. The dispersal of anthracotheres from Asia to Africa about 40 Ma ago, [9] and the much more recent dispersal of hippos (relatives and possible descendants of anthracotheres) from Africa to Madagascar may have occurred by floating or swimming. [6] Ancestors of the Nile crocodile are thought to have reached the Americas from Africa 5 to 6 Ma ago. [22] [23]

Observation

The first documented example of colonization of a land mass by rafting occurred in the aftermath of hurricanes Luis and Marilyn in the Caribbean in 1995. A raft of uprooted trees carrying fifteen or more green iguanas was observed by fishermen landing on the east side of Anguilla – an island where they had never before been recorded. [24] The iguanas had apparently been caught on the trees and rafted 200 mi (320 km) across the ocean from Guadeloupe, where they are indigenous. [25] [26] Examination of the weather patterns and ocean currents indicated that they had probably spent three weeks at sea before landfall. [26] This colony began breeding on the new island within two years of its arrival. [26]

The advent of human civilization has created opportunities for organisms to raft on floating artifacts, which may be more durable than natural floating objects. This phenomenon was noted following the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami in Japan, with about 300 species found to have been carried on debris by the North Pacific Current to the west coast of North America (although no colonizations have been detected thus far). [27] [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primate</span> Order of mammals

Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians. Primates arose 85–55 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted to living in the trees of tropical forests: many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging environment, including large brains, visual acuity, color vision, a shoulder girdle allowing a large degree of movement in the shoulder joint, and dextrous hands. Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs 30 g (1 oz), to the eastern gorilla, weighing over 200 kg (440 lb). There are 376–524 species of living primates, depending on which classification is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, 36 in the 2010s, and three in the 2020s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Placentalia</span> Infraclass of mammals in the clade Eutheria

Placental mammals are one of the three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Marsupialia. Placentalia contains the vast majority of extant mammals, which are partly distinguished from monotremes and marsupials in that the fetus is carried in the uterus of its mother to a relatively late stage of development. The name is something of a misnomer considering that marsupials also nourish their fetuses via a placenta, though for a relatively briefer period, giving birth to less developed young which are then nurtured for a period inside the mother's pouch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenrecomorpha</span> Suborder of mammals

Tenrecomorpha is the suborder of otter shrews and tenrecs, a group of afrotherian mammals indigenous to equatorial Africa and Madagascar, respectively. The two families are thought to have split about 47–53 million years ago. Potamogalid otter shrews were formerly considered a subfamily of Tenrecidae. The suborder is also presumed to contain the extinct genus Plesiorycteropus, a group of possibly fossorial insectivores similar to aardvarks, which is known to be more closely related to tenrecs of subfamily Tenrecinae than to golden moles of suborder Chrysochloridea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenrec</span> Family of small mammals

A tenrec is any species of mammal within the afrotherian family Tenrecidae, which is endemic to Madagascar. Tenrecs are a very diverse group; as a result of convergent evolution some resemble hedgehogs, shrews, opossums, rats, and mice. They occupy aquatic, arboreal, terrestrial, and fossorial environments. Some of these species including the greater hedgehog tenrec, can be found in the Madagascar dry deciduous forests. However, the speciation rate in this group has been higher in humid forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opluridae</span> Family of lizards

The Opluridae, or Madagascan iguanas, are a family of moderately sized lizards native to Madagascar and Grande Comore. There are eight species in two genera, with most of the species being in Oplurus. The Opluridae, along with Brachylophus of Fiji, are the only extant members of the Pleurodonta that are found outside the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leiosauridae</span> Family of lizards

Leiosauridae is a family of iguanian lizards containing six genera and 34 species. The family is endemic to Central America and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iguanidae</span> Family of lizards

The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New World monkey</span> Parvorder of mammals

New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea, the only extant superfamily in the parvorder Platyrrhini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great American Interchange</span> Paleozoographic event resulting from the formation of the Isthmus of Panama

The Great American Biotic Interchange, also known as the Great American Interchange and the Great American Faunal Interchange, was an important late Cenozoic paleozoogeographic biotic interchange event in which land and freshwater fauna migrated from North America via Central America to South America and vice versa, as the volcanic Isthmus of Panama rose up from the sea floor and bridged the formerly separated continents. Although earlier dispersals had occurred, probably over water, the migration accelerated dramatically about 2.7 million years (Ma) ago during the Piacenzian age. It resulted in the joining of the Neotropic and Nearctic biogeographic realms definitively to form the Americas. The interchange is visible from observation of both biostratigraphy and nature (neontology). Its most dramatic effect is on the zoogeography of mammals, but it also gave an opportunity for reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, weak-flying or flightless birds, and even freshwater fish to migrate. Coastal and marine biota, however, was affected in the opposite manner; the formation of the Central American Isthmus caused what has been termed the Great American Schism, with significant diversification and extinction occurring as a result of the isolation of the Caribbean from the Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caviomorpha</span> Sub-set of rodents in South America

Caviomorpha is the rodent infraorder or parvorder that unites all New World hystricognaths. It is supported by both fossil and molecular evidence. The Caviomorpha was for a time considered to be a separate order outside the Rodentia, but is now accepted as a genuine part of the rodents. Caviomorphs include the extinct Heptaxodontidae, the extinct Josephoartigasia monesi and extant families of chinchilla rats, hutias, guinea pigs and the capybara, chinchillas and viscachas, tuco-tucos, agoutis, pacas, pacaranas, spiny rats, New World porcupines, coypu and octodonts.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early human migrations</span> Spread of humans from Africa through the world

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tristan hotspot</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recent African origin of modern humans</span> "Out of Africa" theory of the early migration of humans

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of lemurs</span> History of primate evolution on Madagascar

Lemurs, primates belonging to the suborder Strepsirrhini which branched off from other primates less than 63 million years ago, evolved on the island of Madagascar, for at least 40 million years. They share some traits with the most basal primates, and thus are often confused as being ancestral to modern monkeys, apes, and humans. Instead, they merely resemble ancestral primates.

<i>Brachylophus gibbonsi</i> Extinct species of lizard

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megalocnidae</span> Extinct Greater Antilles sloth family

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References

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