2 research outputs found
Detecting patterns of species diversification in the presence of both rate shifts and mass extinctions
Recent methodological advances are enabling better examination of speciation
and extinction processes and patterns. A major open question is the origin of
large discrepancies in species number between groups of the same age. Existing
frameworks to model this diversity either focus on changes between lineages,
neglecting global effects such as mass extinctions, or focus on changes over
time which would affect all lineages. Yet it seems probable that both lineages
differences and mass extinctions affect the same groups. Here we used
simulations to test the performance of two widely used methods, under complex
scenarios. We report good performances, although with a tendency to
over-predict events when increasing the complexity of the scenario. Overall, we
find that lineage shifts are better detected than mass extinctions. This work
has significance for assessing the methods currently used for estimating
changes in diversification using phylogenies and developing new tests.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figure