Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperse
Dispersal of terrestrial mammals into Wallacea requires the crossing of sea straits. Stegodons, an extinct family of proboscideans, managed to settle on roughly a dozen Wallacean islands during the Pleistocene. Their distribution pattern is, however, not well understood. It results from the interact...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Earth History and Biodiversity |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950475925000103 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850222136821547008 |
|---|---|
| author | Christine Hertler Alexandra A.E. van der Geer Mika Rizki Puspaningrum Jan-Olaf Reschke Iwan Pramesti Anwar Ericson Hölzchen |
| author_facet | Christine Hertler Alexandra A.E. van der Geer Mika Rizki Puspaningrum Jan-Olaf Reschke Iwan Pramesti Anwar Ericson Hölzchen |
| author_sort | Christine Hertler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dispersal of terrestrial mammals into Wallacea requires the crossing of sea straits. Stegodons, an extinct family of proboscideans, managed to settle on roughly a dozen Wallacean islands during the Pleistocene. Their distribution pattern is, however, not well understood. It results from the interaction of two specific processes, namely respective swimming performances on the one hand, as well as island dwarfing on the other. Reduction of body mass has an impact on swimming performance, because smaller size leads to a slower swimming speed and lower deposits of available energy. In this study we conducted a series of experiments with the agent-based model SEAcross, designed to monitor swimming performances of terrestrial mammals across sea straits by measuring crossing success rates (CSR). We found that the dispersal pattern is in accordance with size-dependent swimming performances, geographic width as well as current speed and direction. Because currents change on a seasonal scale, bottlenecks decelerating or even preventing dispersal are rarely absolute, but should be considered as seasonal phenomena. Our results allow for an in-depth analysis of dispersal routes and success. Dispersal performances cannot, however, explain the lack of a fossil record of stegodons in the eastern part of Wallacea. With very few exceptions, routes should be manageable for terrestrial mammals with the size of a stegodon. Our results illustrate, however, the usefulness and applicability of agent-based models in order to further examine geographic dispersal barriers in conjunction with the dynamics of animal behavior. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-07e9bb0b51eb42d78243eb152dda250d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2950-4759 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Earth History and Biodiversity |
| spelling | doaj-art-07e9bb0b51eb42d78243eb152dda250d2025-08-20T02:06:27ZengElsevierEarth History and Biodiversity2950-47592025-06-01410002610.1016/j.hisbio.2025.100026Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperseChristine Hertler0Alexandra A.E. van der Geer1Mika Rizki Puspaningrum2Jan-Olaf Reschke3Iwan Pramesti Anwar4Ericson Hölzchen5ROCEEH Research Center, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt am Main 60325, Germany; ROCEEH Research Center, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Heidelberg, Germany; Corresponding author at: ROCEEH Research Center, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt am Main 60325, Germany.Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Vertebrate Evolution, Development and Ecology, Darwinweg 2, Leiden 2333 CR, the NetherlandsBandung Institute of Technology, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Bandung, IndonesiaROCEEH Research Center, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt am Main 60325, Germany; Goethe University, Dept. of Biosciences, Paleobiology and Environment, Frankfurt am Main, GermanyBandung Institute of Technology, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Bandung, IndonesiaTrier University, Universitätsring 15, Trier, Germany; German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Behringstraße 21, Trier, GermanyDispersal of terrestrial mammals into Wallacea requires the crossing of sea straits. Stegodons, an extinct family of proboscideans, managed to settle on roughly a dozen Wallacean islands during the Pleistocene. Their distribution pattern is, however, not well understood. It results from the interaction of two specific processes, namely respective swimming performances on the one hand, as well as island dwarfing on the other. Reduction of body mass has an impact on swimming performance, because smaller size leads to a slower swimming speed and lower deposits of available energy. In this study we conducted a series of experiments with the agent-based model SEAcross, designed to monitor swimming performances of terrestrial mammals across sea straits by measuring crossing success rates (CSR). We found that the dispersal pattern is in accordance with size-dependent swimming performances, geographic width as well as current speed and direction. Because currents change on a seasonal scale, bottlenecks decelerating or even preventing dispersal are rarely absolute, but should be considered as seasonal phenomena. Our results allow for an in-depth analysis of dispersal routes and success. Dispersal performances cannot, however, explain the lack of a fossil record of stegodons in the eastern part of Wallacea. With very few exceptions, routes should be manageable for terrestrial mammals with the size of a stegodon. Our results illustrate, however, the usefulness and applicability of agent-based models in order to further examine geographic dispersal barriers in conjunction with the dynamics of animal behavior.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950475925000103StegodonPleistoceneWallaceaDispersalAgent-based modelInsular dwarfism |
| spellingShingle | Christine Hertler Alexandra A.E. van der Geer Mika Rizki Puspaningrum Jan-Olaf Reschke Iwan Pramesti Anwar Ericson Hölzchen Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperse Earth History and Biodiversity Stegodon Pleistocene Wallacea Dispersal Agent-based model Insular dwarfism |
| title | Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperse |
| title_full | Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperse |
| title_fullStr | Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperse |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperse |
| title_short | Stegodon SEA-crossing: Swim, shrink, and disperse |
| title_sort | stegodon sea crossing swim shrink and disperse |
| topic | Stegodon Pleistocene Wallacea Dispersal Agent-based model Insular dwarfism |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950475925000103 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christinehertler stegodonseacrossingswimshrinkanddisperse AT alexandraaevandergeer stegodonseacrossingswimshrinkanddisperse AT mikarizkipuspaningrum stegodonseacrossingswimshrinkanddisperse AT janolafreschke stegodonseacrossingswimshrinkanddisperse AT iwanpramestianwar stegodonseacrossingswimshrinkanddisperse AT ericsonholzchen stegodonseacrossingswimshrinkanddisperse |