Phylogenetic insights into Canidae trait variation across continents ...

Aim Understanding the spatial structuring of ecological communities involves considering the interplay between evolutionary history and environmental factors. This study investigates how the phylogenetic structure of Canidae influences the geographical distribution and trait patterns of lineages globally, and how these patterns relate to Bergmann's and Rapoport's rules. Location Americas, Africa, Eurasia. Time period 12 million years ago – present. Major taxa studied Canidae. Methods Using distribution data and phylogenetic information for 37 Canidae species, we analyzed key ecological, functional, and evolutionary variables. We applied phylogenetic fuzzy-weighting via Principal Coordinates of Phylogenetic Structure (PCPS) and variance partitioning analysis (VPA) to assess the contributions of phylogenetic structure and environmental factors to trait variation among species. Results Our results revealed distinct global patterns in body size, body weight, range size, habitat use, and evolutionary ... : # Phylogenetic insights into Canidae trait variation across continents --- The files available here can be used to map, using phylogenetic fuzzy-weighting, the distribution of phylogenetic information of canids across the globe, together with their traits. ## Description of the data and file structure * phylogeny.new (phylogenetic tree with 37 species of Canidae used in our study derived from Porto et. al., (2019)) * Tmean_per_Sites.txt (Information on mean annual temperature across all the grid cells used in our study) * traits.txt (Species trait values used in our study) * Diet - values of 1, 2, and 3 to hipo-, meso-, and hypercarnivory species, respectively * Group_behav - values of 0, 1, and 2 to species with low, medium, high social behaviors, respectively * Size_cm - species sizes in centimeters * Mass_kg - species body weights in kilograms * Habitat - percentage of vegetation cover (from 0 to 100) in the grid cells in which species are distributed * Range_npixels - number of grid cells that species ...