Research
The tropics weren't always the most diverse marine environments, study finds
Phys.org ·
The Brief
- A study finds that tropical waters were not always the most diverse marine environments.
- Today tropical waters host a wider range of marine animals than polar waters, a pattern called the latitudinal diversity gradient.
- The source coverage available here is a brief summary; no further methods or figures are provided.
Why it matters
It challenges the assumption that the present-day latitudinal diversity gradient has always held, which matters for how science reads the history of marine biodiversity.
Who’s affected
- marine biologists and paleontologists
- readers interested in evolutionary history of ocean life
- #marine biodiversity
- #latitudinal diversity gradient
- #evolution
- #paleobiology
- #ocean ecology
Today, tropical waters typically host a wider range of marine animals than polar waters. This decline in marine biodiversity from the equator toward the North and South poles is known as the latitudinal diversity gradient.
Timeline
Biology News article reports the study finding that tropics were not always the most diverse marine environments
Biology News - Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology
The tropics weren't always the most diverse marine environments, study finds