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Quantitative investigation of extinctions patterns in sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora) during the Cenozoic

Grant number: 23/16474-3
Support Opportunities:Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
Start date: April 01, 2024
End date: July 31, 2025
Field of knowledge:Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
Principal Investigator:Pedro Lorena Godoy
Grantee:Fernanda Dias Paes Landim
Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
Associated scholarship(s):24/09687-3 - Extinction selectivity in sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora): testing the deep-time effect of biotic traits, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The global and rapid extinction of megafaunal mammals at the end of Pleistoceneattracts the attention of both the general public and paleontological research. This hasled to the formulation of multiple hypotheses about its causes, with the main onespointing out to the impact of climate change or the human influence over these animals,such as excessive hunting (known as overkill hypothesis). In South America, thismegafauna was extremely representative, but suffered the greatest relative loss in thisextinction event, among all continents, with a significant reduction in diversity amongsurviving species. This research project focuses on analyzing the extinction of SouthAmerica mammal's megafauna, with an on Folivora, the xenarthran group composed ofsloths. The research aims to characterize the extinction patterns of this group during itsentire evolutionary history and investigate the selectivity of traits associated withextinction risk, with emphasis on body size and diet. In this way, a quantitativeapproach its proposed, using phylogenetic comparative methods to characterizeextinctions patterns in a phylogenetic context. Sloths will be used as a model group dueto the representation of both living and extinct species and to the greatecomorphological diversity know in extinct animals, which is very reduced in currentspecies. Methods such as D-statistics will be used to identify phylogenetically-clusteredextinctions, meanwhile, the analysis of traits associated with extinctions will be madeusing phylogenetic regressions (PGLS).

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