Project description
Examining trophic networks at the beginning of tetrapod terrestrialisation
The Late Devonian period marked the apogee of the terrestrialisation process with the establishment of complex continental ecosystems. Tetrapods followed plant and arthropod invasions on land, which changed Earth’s continental ecosystems forever. Their complete terrestrialisation has only been recorded by the Carboniferous and Late Devonian periods, which represent ideal starting points to help us understand this significant process. The EU-funded TNT project examines the trophic relationships in eight crucial and diverse Devonian vertebrate assemblages containing tetrapods. It blends calcium isotope analyses with statistical analyses of ecomorphological characters to reconstruct the trophic position and interactions and the palaeoecology of Late Devonian vertebrates under different environments and climates. TNT will estimate the predation pressures on tetrapods and ascertain whether they were a driving force for their terrestrialisation.
Objective
The Late Devonian (380 to 360 Myr ago) is marked by the apogee of the terrestrialisation process that consists in the establishment of complex continental ecosystems. After the invasion of land by plants, and by arthropods, it is the rise of tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates) at the end of the Devonian that will change Earth’s continental ecosystems forever. Their complete terrestrialisation is only recorded by the Carboniferous and the Late Devonian represents thus the ideal period to understand processes related to tetrapod terrestrialisation. While the taxonomic richness, the phylogenetic relationships and the paleoenvironmental settings of Devonian tetrapods are better understood yet, a serious gap remains in our knowledge of the palaeoecological context. This is a major evolutionary issue, as tetrapods obviously did not evolve in an ecological vacuum and faunal interactions must have been critical driving forces for the transition from water to land. To tackle these issues, the ‘Trophic Networks at the dawn of tetrapod Terrestrialisation’ (TNT) project focuses on the trophic relationships in eight crucial and diverse Devonian vertebrate assemblages containing tetrapods. It blends calcium isotope analyses with statistical analyses of ecomorphological characters to reconstruct the trophic position, trophic interactions, and paleoecology of Late Devonian vertebrates under different environments and climates. Because Recent trophic networks provide a comparative basis for understanding Past ecosystems, two Recent localities, with fossil analogues, are also studied in the scope of the TNT project. The TNT project aims to estimate the predation pressures exerted on tetrapods and if these pressures acted as a driving force for their terrestrialisation.
Fields of science
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkaline earth metals
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencespalaeontologypaleoecology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological behavioural sciencesethologybiological interactions
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyinvertebrate zoology
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
69342 Lyon
France