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29 April 2025 Biotic interactions and their consequences for macroevolution: learning from the fossil record and beyond
Lee Hsiang Liow, Tiago B. Quental
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Abstract

Every organism interacts with a host of other organisms of the same and different species throughout its life. These biotic interactions have varying influences on the reproduction and dispersal of the organism, and hence also the population and species lineage to which the organism belongs. By extension, biotic interactions must contribute to the macroevolutionary patterns that we observe in the fossil record, but exactly how, when, and why are research questions we have been asking before the start of the journal Paleobiology. In this contribution for Paleobiology's 50th anniversary, we present a brief overview of how paleobiologists have studied biotic interactions and their macroevolutionary consequences, recognizing paleontology's unique position to contribute data and insights to the topic of interspecies interactions. We then explore, in a semi-free-form manner, what promising avenues might be open to those of us who use the fossil record to understand biotic interactions. In general, we emphasize the need for increased effort surrounding the understanding of ecological details, integration of different types of information, and model-based approaches.

Every animal and plant interacts with many other individuals, including disease-causing organisms, prey items, or pollinators, throughout their lives. These interactions necessarily contribute to the ecological and evolutionary processes that are associated with the diverse forms of life that we observe. It is comparatively easy to study such biotic interactions among living organisms, but more challenging to investigate such relationships when the organisms involved are dead or their species extinct. We discuss how paleobiologists have studied biotic interactions in the last 50 years, then suggest new avenues of research we could continue to fruitfully explore.

Lee Hsiang Liow and Tiago B. Quental "Biotic interactions and their consequences for macroevolution: learning from the fossil record and beyond," Paleobiology 51(1), 71-82, (29 April 2025). https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2024.32
Received: 12 December 2023; Accepted: 2 July 2024; Published: 29 April 2025
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