Rising from the Ashes: The Biogeographic Origins of Modern Coral Reef Fishes. (20th July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cantalice, Kleyton M; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Bellwood, David R; Siqueira, Alexandre C
• Is Part Of: BioScience. Volume 72:Number 8(2022)
• Page Start: 769
• Page End: 777
• Publication Date: 2022-07-20
• Subjects: coral reef fishes -- evolutionary biogeography -- the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary -- asteroid impact -- Mexico; Life sciences -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- United States -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- Government policy -- United States -- Periodicals; Biology -- Periodicals; Biotechnology industries -- Periodicals; 570
• DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biac045
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0006-3568

Abstract

Abstract: During the excavation of Mayan tombs, little did the archaeologists know that the fossils they discovered in the tomb stones would fundamentally alter our understanding of the earliest origins of coral reef fishes. Located just 500 kilometers from the point where an asteroid impact reconfigured the world's biological systems 66 million years ago, we find the earliest origins of three typical reef fish groups. Their presence in Mexico just 3 million years after this impact finally reconciles the conflict between the fossil and phylogenetic evidence for the earliest origins of reef fishes. The incorporation of these fossils into a global reconstruction of fish evolutionary history reveals a new picture of the early biogeography of reef fishes, with strong Atlantic links. From locations associated with biological destruction and societal collapse, we see evidence of the origins of one of the world's most diverse and spectacular marine ecosystems: coral reefs.