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Evolution

Catastrophe triggers diversification

Nature volume 542, pages 304–305 (2017)Cite this article

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An analysis of more than 2,000 species of bird provides insight into how the animals' diverse beak shapes evolved, and points to a single rare event as a trigger for the rapid initial divergence of avian lineages. See Letter p.344

In 1796, the comparative anatomist Georges Cuvier described a huge ground-dwelling sloth that he named Megatherium. Such creatures no longer existed, and Cuvier considered that there was an ancient biotic world — or perhaps a succession of worlds — that preceded the modern tapestry of life on Earth1. He conceived of Earth's history as being marked by a series of pivotal events or catastrophes. This catastrophism theory ultimately fell before the intellectually nuanced Darwinian idea that changes in the make-up of Earth's flora and fauna have been continuous and uniform2. But a large-scale study of bird beak evolution by Cooney et al.3, on page 344 highlights the importance of rare and even single events in the history of life.

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Figure 1: The diverse beak shapes of extant birds such as (from left) eagles, flamingos and toucans.

From Left: Getty; Klein & Hubert/Nature Picture Library; Juan Carlos Vindas/NIS/Minden Pictures/Getty

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar is in the Department of Geology and Geophysics and at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8109, USA.,

    Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar

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  1. Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar
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Correspondence to Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar.

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Bhullar, BA. Catastrophe triggers diversification. Nature 542, 304–305 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21494

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