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    Evolution and extinction risks of sharks, rays, and skates

    (FWF-Project P33820)



    Keywords: Elasmobranchii, Deep-Time, Phylogeny, Character Evolution, Body Size Evolution

    Primary Investigator: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kriwet

    Team

    • Julia Türtscher, MSc (PhD student)
    • Patrick L. Jambura, MSc (PhD student)

    Collaborators



    Start

    • September 1, 2020

    Expected End

    • February 28, 2025


    Abstract

    Wider research context/theoretical framework

    Sharks, rays, and skates (Elasmobranchii) and ratfishes (Holocephali) are the last extant members of chondrichthyans, being sister to all other living jawed vertebrates. This ancient lineage survived five mass extinctions and developed diverse morphological and biological traits allowing them to occupy a variety of different ecological niches as meso- or apex predators in aquatic food webs. Despite their evolutionary success, ca. 30% of all species are currently threatened by anthropogenically impacts. Extinction of only few species of this evolutionary distinctive clade can cause significant pruning of the tree of life with subsequent loss of millions of years of evolutionary history.

    Hypotheses/research questions/objectives

    The main goal is to disentangle the reasons underlying their success by examining the evolution of morphological and ecological traits. Questions addressed are: (1) What are the systematic positions and phylogenetic interrelationships of extinct taxa? (2) How do morphological traits and body shapes evolve through time? (3) What are the reasons for the many homoplastic characters in morphology-based phylogenies? (4) What is the timing and tempo of morphological trait and phenotypic evolution? (5) What are their future perspectives and which traits may increase their evolutionary fitness?

    Approach/methods

    A reliable and robust time-calibrated tree for extinct taxa within a phylogenetic framework of extant taxa will be built employing meta-analytical approaches, based on supermatrix approaches combining morphological and molecular data sets of fossil and extant taxa, within parsimony and Bayesian frameworks. This procedure (1) allows performing phylogenetic analyses and to analyse the nature of homoplastic character distribution, (2) provides tools for modelling complex origination, diversification and extinction dynamics, (3) enables to reconstruct macroevolutionary patterns through time, and (4) forms the scaffold for a revised EDGE analysis to determine vulnerable clades.

    Level of originality/innovation

    Originality and innovation of this project arise from the multidisciplinary approach combining morphology, molecular biology, palaeobiology, ecology, and conservation biology with a set of new statistical approaches. The combined approaches will profoundly inform about the evolution and success of elasmobranchs, and by including deep-time perspectives will allow identifying clades for which effective conservation priorities are necessary to maintain this unique evolutionary line of vertebrates.

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    Scholarly papers


    In press

    Online first
    • Goedert, J.L., Kiel, S., Thomas, E.J. & Kriwet, J. in press. An early Eocene shark assemblage associated with a barite deposit in the lower part of the Crescent Formation, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. Journal of Paleontology.
    • Marramà, G., Villalobos-Segura, E., Zorzin, R., Kriwet, J., & Carnevale, G. 2023 (online first). The evolutionary origin of the durophagous pelagic stingray ecomorph. Palaeontology. Link to article
    • Amadori, M., Solonin, S.V., Vodorezov, A.V., Shell, R., Niedźwiedzki, R. & Kriwet, J. 2023 (online first). The extinct shark, Ptychodus (Elasmobranchii, Ptychodontidae) in the Upper Cretaceous of central-western Russia - The road to easternmost peri-Tethyan seas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Link to article
    • Begat, A., Kriwet, J., Gelfo, J.N., Soledad Gouiric-Cavalli, Schultz, J.A. & Martin, T. 2023 (online first). The first Southern Hemisphere occurrence of the extinct Cretaceous sclerorhynchoid sawfish Ptychotrygon (Chondrichthyes, Batoidea), with a review of Ptychotrygon taxonomy. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Link to article

    2024
    • Vullo, R., Villalobos Segura, E., Amadori, M., Kriwet, J., Frey, E., Gonzàlez, M.A., Gutiérez, J.M.P., Ifrim, C., Stinnesbeck, E.S. & Stinnesbeck, W. in press. Exceptionally preserved shark fossils from Mexico elucidate the long-standing enigma of the Cretaceous elasmobranch Ptychodus. Proceedings of the Royal Society London, 291: 20240262 (12 pages). Link to article
    • Türtscher, J., Jambura, P.L., Villalobos-Segura, E., Underwood, C.J., Thies, D. &Kriwet, J. 2024. Rostra and body shape analyses reveal cryptic diversity of Late Jurassic batomorphs from Europe. Papers in Palaeontology, e1552 (31 pages). Link to article
    • Balàka, P.F., Ugarković, P., Türtscher, J., Kriwet, J., Niedermüller, S., Krstinić, P. & Jambura, P.L. 2024. Reply to Soldo, A.; Lipej, L. Comment on “Balàka et al. Updated checklist of chondrichthyan species in Croatia (Central Mediterranean Sea)”. Biology, 13, 136 (6 pages). Link to article
    • Sternes, P.C., Jambura, P.L., Türtscher, J., Kriwet, J., Siversson, M., Feichtinger, I., Naylor, G.J.P., Summers, A.P., Maisey, J.G., Tomita, T., Moyer, J.K., Higham, T.E., da Silva, J.P.C.B., Bornatowski, H., Long, D.J., Perez, V.J., Collareta, A., Underwood, C., Ward, D.J., Vullo, R., González-Barba, G., Maisch IV, H.M., Griffiths, M.L., Becker, M.A., Wood, J.J. & Shimada, K. (2024). White shark comparison reveals a slender body for the extinct megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae). Palaeontologia Electronics, 27(1): a7 (20 pages). Link to article
    • Jambura. P.L., Solonin, S.V., Cooper, S.L.A., Mychoko, E.V., Arkhangelsky, M.S., Türtscher, J., Amadori, M., Stumpf, S., Vodorezov, A.V. & Kriwet, J. 2024. Fossil marine vertebrates (Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygii, Reptilia) from the Late Cretaceous of Akkermanovka (Orenburg Oblast, Southern Urals, Russia). Cretaceous Research, 155: 105779 (44 pages). Link to article

    2023
    • Klimpfinger, C. & Kriwet, J. 2023. Morphological Variability and Function of Labial Cartilages in Sharks (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii). Biology, 12: 1486 (19 pages). Link to article
    • Villafaña, J.A., M., Rivadeneira, M.M., Pimiento, C. & Kriwet, J. 2023. Diversification trajectories and paleobiogeography of Neogene chondrichthyans from Europe. Paleobiology, 49(2): 329-341. Link to article
    • Kovalchuk, Kriwet, J., Shimada, K., Ryabokon, T., Barkaszi, Z., Dubikovska, A., Anfimova, G. & Davydenko, S. 2023. Middle Eocene cartilaginous fishes (Vertebrata: Chondrichthyes) of the Dnieper-Donets Basin, northern Ukraine. Palaeontologia Electronica, 26(2): a31 (37 pages. Link to article
    • Amadori, M., Kovalchuk, O., Barkaszi, Z., Giusberti, L., Kindlimann, R. & Kriwet, J. 2023. A diverse assemblage of †Ptychodus species (Elasmobranchii: Ptychodontidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Ukraine, with comments on possible diversification drivers during the Cenomanian. Cretaceous Research, 151: 105659 (11 pages). Link to article
    • Balàka, P.F., Ugarković, P., Türtscher, J., Kriwet, J., Niedermüller, S., Krstinić, P. & Jambura, P.L. 2023. Updated Checklist of Chondrichthyan Species in Croatia (Central Mediterranean Sea). In Porcu, C. & Bellodi, A. (eds.). Rays and Sharks: Biology, Ecology, Conservation and Distribution of Predators (Special Issue of Conservation Biology and Biodiversity), 12(7): 952 (33 pages). Link to article
    • López-Romero, F.A., Stumpf, S., Kamminga, P., Böhmer, C., Pradel, A., Brazeau, M.D. & Kriwet, J. 2023. Shark mandible evolution reveals patterns of trophic and habitat-mediated diversification. Communications Biology, 6, 496 (13 pp.). Link to article
    • Villalobos-Segura, E., Stumpf, S., Türtscher, J., Jambura, P.L., Begat, A., López-Romero, F.A., Fischer, J. & Kriwet, J.. 2023. A synoptic review of the cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali, Elasmobranchii) from the Upper Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätte of southern Germany: Taxonomy, diversity, and faunal relationships. Diversity, 15, 386 (70 pp.). Link to article
    • Jambura, P.L., Villalobos-Segura, E., Türtscher, J., Begat, A., Staggl, M.A., Stumpf, S., Kindlimann, R., Klug, S., Lacombat, F., Pohl, B., Maisey, J.G., Naylor, G.J.P. & Kriwet, J. 2023. Systematics and phylogenetic interrelationships of the enigmatic Late Jurassic shark Protospinax annectans Woodward, 1918 with comments on the shark-ray sister group relationship. Diversity, 15, 311 (43 pp.). Link to article

    2022
    • Ćetković, I., Jambura, P.L., Pešić, A., Ikica, Z. & Joksimović, A. 2022. Observations of juvenile sandbar sharks Carcharhinus plumbeus (Nardo, 1827) around the Bojana River delta (Southern Adriatic Sea). Mediterranean Marine Science, 23: 748-753. Link to article
    • Türtscher, J., Jambura, P.L., López-Romero, F.A., Kindlimann, R., Sato, K., Tomita, T. & Kriwet, J. 2022. Heterodonty and ontogenetic shift dynamics in the dentition of the tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier (Chondrichthyes, Galeocerdidae). Journal of Anatomy, 241: 372-392. Link to article
    • Kim, S.L., Yeake, D., Balk, M.A., Eberle, J.J., Zeichner, S., Fieman, D. & Kriwet, J. 2022. Decoding the dynamics of dental distributions: insights from shark demography and dispersal. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 289: 20220808. Link to article
    • Villalobos-Segura, E., Marramà, G., Carnevale, G., Claeson, K.E., Underwood, C.J., Naylor, G.J.P. & Kriwet, J. 2022. The Phylogeny of rays and skates (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) based on morphological characters revisited. Diversity, 14: 456 (65 pp). Link to article
    • Staggl, M., Abed-Navandi, D. & Kriwet, J. 2022. Cranial morphology of the orectolobiform shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle, 1838. Vertebrate Zoology, 72, 2022: 311-370. Link to article
    • López-Romero, F.A., Fidji, B., Abed-Navandi, D. & Kriwet, J. 2022. Early shape divergence of developmental trajectories in the jaw of galeomorph sharks. Frontiers in Zoology, 9, 7 (11 pages). Link to article
    • Amadori, M., Kindlimann, R., Fornaciari, E., Giusberti, L. & Kriwet, J. 2022. A new cuspidate ptychodontid shark (Chondrichthyes; Elasmobranchii), from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco with comments on tooth functionalities and replacement patterns. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 187, 104440 (25 pages). Link to article

    2021
    • Türtscher, J., López-Romero, F.A., Jambura, P.L., Kindlimann, R., Ward, D., Kriwet, J. 2021. Evolution, diversity and disparity of the tiger shark lineage Galeocerdo in deep time. Paleobiology, 47: 574-590. Link to article
    • Türtscher, J., López-Romero, F., Jambura, P.L., Kindlimann, R., Ward, D.J. & Kriwet, J., 2021. Data from: Evolution, diversity and disparity of the tiger shark lineage Galeocerdo in deep time. Dryad, Dataset. Link to article
    • Jambura, P.L., Türtscher, J., De Maddalena, A., Giovos, I., Kriwet, J., Rizgalla, J. & Al Mabruk, S.A.A. 2021. Using citizen science to detect rare and endangered species: New records of the great white shark Carcharodon carcharias off the Libyan coast. Annals for Istrian and Mediterranean Studies, Series Historia Naturalis, 31: 51-60. Link to article
    • Jambura, P.L., Türtscher, J., Kriwet, J. & Al Mabruk, S.A.A. 2021. Deadly interaction between a swordfish Xiphias gladius and a bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus. Ichthyological Research, 68: 317-321. Link to article
    • Jambura, P.L., Stumpf, S. & Kriwet, J. 2021. Skeletal remains of the oldest known pseudocoracid shark Pseudocorax kindlimanni sp. nov. (Chondrichthyes, Lamniformes) from the Upper Cretaceous of Lebanon. Cretaceous Research, 125: 104842 (13 pages). Link to article
    • Jambura, P.L., Ćetković, I., Kriwet, J. & Türtscher, J. 2021. Using historical and citizen science data to improve the knowledge about the occurrence of the elusive sandbar shark Carcharhinus plumbeus in the Adriatic Sea. Mediterranean Marine Science, 22: 169-179. Link to article



    Conference abstracts


    2023
    • Villalobos-Segura, E., Stumpf, S., Begat, A. & Kriwet, J. 2023. Reassessment of Late Jurassic elasmobranch fishes. - Abstracts of the 8th International Meeting on Mesozoic fishes and aquatic tetrapods: 57, Stuttgart, Germany.
    • Klimpfinger, C. & Kriwet, J. 2023. Labial cartilages in sharks – Varieties and functions. - Abstracts of the 4th Palaeontological Virtual Congress: 109.
    2022
    • Jambura, P.L., Villalobos-Segura, E., Türtscher, J., Klug, S., Maisey, J.G., Naylor, G., Staggl, M.A., Stumpf, S. & Kriwet, J. 2022. Reconciling genetics and morphology: a revised phylogenetic analysis of the enigmatic elasmobranch Protospinax annectans from the Late Jurassic Lagerstätte of Solnhofen, Germany. - Abstracts of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: 189, Toronto, Canada.
    • Staggl, M.A., Kriwet, J. & Stumpf, S. 2022. End of the line: Quantifying the demise of hybodontiform shark-like chondrichthyans. - Abstracts of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: 314-315, Toronto, Canada.
    • Türtscher, J., Jambura, P.L., Villalobos-Segura, E., Thies, D. & Kriwet, J. 2022. New insights into exceptionally preserved Late Jurassic holomorphic rays (Chondrichthyes, Batomorphii) from Europe (Solnhofen, Cerin, Kimmeridge). - Abstracts of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: 331.-332, Toronto, Canada.
    • Villalobos-Segura, E., Stumpf, S. & Kriwet, J. 2022. Reassessment of Late Jurassic elasmobranch fishes. - Abstracts of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: 335.-336, Toronto, Canada.
    2021
    • Begat, A., Kriwet, J., Goin, F.J., Gelfo, J.N., Gouiric-Cavalli, S., Schultz, J.A. & Martin, T. 2021. Elasmobranch fishes from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) of Patagonia, Argentina display an impressive palaeodiversity in high latitude deposits. - In: Stumpf, S., Türtscher, J., Pfaff, C., Jambura, P.L. & Kriwet, J. (Eds.) (2021): Abstracts of the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft - Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt, 142: 13, Vienna.
    • Marramà, G., Carnevale G., & Kriwet J. 2021. Diversity, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironmental significance of the Eocene chondrichthyan assemblages of the Bolca Lagerstätte, Italy. - XXI Edizione delle Giornate di Paleontologia, 15-17 Giugno 2021, Abstract volume: 57; Bologna, Italy.


    See here for more information Link

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