Summary: It is widely recognized that macroecological patterns are not independent of the evolution of the lineages involved in generating these patterns. While many researchers have begun to evaluate the effect of ancestor–descendant relationships on observed patterns using the phylogenetic comparative method, most macroecological studies only utilize the cross‐sectional comparative method to ‘remove the phylogenetic history’, without considering the option of evaluating its effect without removing it. Currently, most researchers use this method without explicitly evaluating three fundamental evolutionary assumptions of the comparative method: (i) that the phylogeny is constructed without error (which implies evaluating phylogenetic uncertainty); (ii) that more closely related species tend to show more similar characters than expected by chance (which implies evaluating the phylogenetic signal) and; (iii) that the model of the characters' evolution effectively recapitulates their history (which implies comparing the fit of several evolutionary models and evaluating the uncertainty of the estimating model parameters). Macroecological studies will benefit from the use of the comparative method to assess the effect of phylogenetic history without removing its effect. The comparative method will also allow for the simultaneous analysis of trait evolution and its impact on diversification rates; it is important to evaluate these processes together because they are not independent. In addition, explicit evaluations of the assumptions of comparative methods using Bayesian inferences will allow researchers to quantify the uncertainty of specific evolutionary hypotheses accounting for observed macroecological patterns. We illustrate the usefulness of the method using the phylogeny of the genusSebastes(Pisces: Scorpaeniformes), together with data on the body size–latitudinal range relationship to estimate the effect of phylogenetic history on the observed macroecological pattern.

Abrothrix olivaceus is the most abundant and widespread species of sigmodontine rodent in Chile. We evaluated phylogeographic relationships within A.

The origins of endothermy in birds and mammals are important events in vertebrate evolution. Endotherms can maintain their body temperature (Tb) over a wide range of ambient temperatures primarily using the heat that is generated continuously by their high basal metabolic rate (BMR)1. There is also an important positive feedback loop as Tb influences BMR1-3. Owing to this interplay between BMRs and Tb, many ecologists and evolutionary physiologists posit that the evolution of BMR and Tb must have been coupled during the radiation of endotherms3-5, changing with similar trends6-8. However, colder historical environments might have imposed strong selective pressures on BMR to compensate for increased rates of heat loss and to keep Tb constant9-12. Thus, adaptation to cold ambient temperatures through increases in BMR could have decoupled BMR from Tb and caused different evolutionary routes to the modern diversity in these traits. Here we show that BMR and Tb were decoupled in approximately 90% of mammalian phylogenetic branches and 36% of avian phylogenetic branches. Mammalian BMRs evolved with rapid bursts but without a long-term directional trend, whereas Tb evolved mostly at a constant rate and towards colder bodies from a warmer-bodied common ancestor. Avian BMRs evolved predominantly at a constant rate and without a long-term directional trend, whereas Tb evolved with much greater rate heterogeneity and with adaptive evolution towards colder bodies. Furthermore, rapid shifts that lead to both increases and decreases in BMRs were linked to abrupt changes towards colder ambient temperatures-although only in mammals. Our results suggest that natural selection effectively exploited the diversity in mammalian BMRs under diverse, often-adverse historical thermal environments.

The Andean mountains stand out for their striking species richness and endemicity that characterize many emblematic Neotropical clades distributed in or around these mountains. The radiation of the Sigmodontinae subfamily, the most diversified mammalian group in the Neotropics, has been historically related to Andean orogenesis. We aim to evaluate this interplay between geological processes and biological responses through the diversification dynamics, the biogeographical history, and the range evolution of the subfamily. For these, we built the most comprehensive phylogeny and gathered 14,836 occurrences for the subfamily. We identified one shift in the speciation rate in the genusAkodon, which suffered their Andean radiation after the arrival of non-Andean ancestors. Our biogeographic analyses show multiple dispersal paths throughout the evolution that allowed this subfamily to colonize all Neotropics. The Northern Andes and Central-Southern Andes were the most important sources of diversity. In addition, the Central-Southern Andes were the most relevant sink, receiving the highest number of lineages. The Andean region exhibited higher speciation and turnover rates than non-Andean regions. Thus, our results support the crucial role of the Andean Mountains in the Sigmodontinae radiation, acting as a "macroevolutionary cradle" and "species attractor" for several sigmodontine lineages at different times, and as a "species pump" becoming the biogeographic source of multiple widely distributed neotropical lineages. Then, complex macroevolutionary dynamics would explain these rodents' high extant Andean diversity and their wide distribution in the Neotropics.